State of Wyoming Sells 13,188 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

State of Wyoming trimmed its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 48.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,763 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 13,188 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 20.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 458,843 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $17,032,000 after purchasing an additional 77,216 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,513 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,006,411 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $74,478,000 after buying an additional 8,486 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth $2,487,000. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth $254,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $82.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $34.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.41 and a 200 day moving average of $61.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12 month low of $22.45 and a 12 month high of $89.19.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%.The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. On average, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AU. Zacks Research raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.