Barings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Barings LLC trimmed its position in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 539,228 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 129,632 shares during the quarter. AngloGold Ashanti makes up approximately 0.9% of Barings LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Barings LLC owned approximately 0.13% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $46,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AU. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,380,472,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $426,477,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,395,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,186,463 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $357,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,545 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AU shares. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Four research 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. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $83.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $42.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.37 and its 200 day moving average is $97.26. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a twelve month low of $43.44 and a twelve month high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $1.16 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 68.04%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.