Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 43,609 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 768,829 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 43,609 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $66,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.20.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 4.5%

AU stock opened at $93.85 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a fifty-two week low of $38.61 and a fifty-two week high of $129.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $103.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.87. The company has a market capitalization of $47.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08 and a beta of 0.66.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 26.65%.The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 133.33%.

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.