AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Shares Bought by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,966 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, February 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 1.2%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $106.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.55. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 1 year low of $30.19 and a 1 year high of $129.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%. On average, research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.173 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.13%.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

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.