Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 495,000 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,036 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.12% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $11,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% in the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,525,000 after purchasing an additional 962,141 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 297.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,120 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,900,000 after purchasing an additional 193,992 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $586,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,043,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $37.64 on Thursday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1-year low of $21.65 and a 1-year high of $38.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.92.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.