Strs Ohio Has $34.44 Million Stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 489,744 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 29,632 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $34,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AU. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after buying an additional 4,577,807 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,767.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,788,123 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638,823 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,137,721 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $142,986,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300,204 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth about $74,039,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,017,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $106.29 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $88.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41 and a beta of 0.58. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52 week low of $27.48 and a 52 week high of $107.60.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 80.18%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by?products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.