Strs Ohio Sells 29,632 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 489,744 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 29,632 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned about 0.12% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $34,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter valued at $321,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 579.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 266.9% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 379,450 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $17,278,000 after buying an additional 276,037 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 162.5% in the second quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Forefront Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 46.8% in the second quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 56,545 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after buying an additional 18,016 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AU. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

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

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

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.