7,162 Shares in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU Acquired by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,162 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,380,472,000. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 worth $226,354,000 after buying an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,395,905,000 after buying an additional 1,804,620 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 125.8% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,544,918 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $178,984,000 after buying an additional 1,417,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter worth approximately $87,236,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE AU opened at $90.60 on Tuesday. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a twelve month low of $38.61 and a twelve month high of $129.14. 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 stock has a market cap of $45.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $103.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.19.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.79 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.20.

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.