Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 22,731 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV cut its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 24.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,044 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 22,731 shares during the period. AngloGold Ashanti comprises about 0.7% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $6,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AU. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Freedom Capital raised AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.67.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $81.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.65. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12-month low of $45.36 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.32.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.04%.

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.