AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Shares Sold by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. trimmed its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,537 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 4,090 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $75,525,000 after acquiring an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 297.9% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during 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, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,504.8% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 391,715 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $10,419,000 after purchasing an additional 367,306 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU stock opened at $32.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.72. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12-month low of $20.05 and a 12-month high of $34.33. The firm has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.