Allianz Asset Management GmbH Has $81.74 Million Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 958,538 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 175,629 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $81,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AU. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,380,472,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $426,477,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,395,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,186,463 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $357,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,545 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $78.44 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.65 and its 200 day moving average is $97.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm has a market cap of $39.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.60. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $43.44 and a one year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 36.41% and a net margin of 31.11%. As a group, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 68.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.00.

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.