Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 120,362 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $2,778,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.0% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,103 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 91,168 shares of the mining company's stock worth $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,745 shares of the mining company's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,043 shares of the mining company's stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 9,581 shares of the mining company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.
AU traded up $0.72 on Friday, reaching $31.61. The company had a trading volume of 3,537,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,301,334. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1 year low of $20.05 and a 1 year high of $33.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.73.
AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.
Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank boosted 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 note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.00.
View Our Latest Report on 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.
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