Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 52.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,465 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 7,140 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $467,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882,283 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company's stock worth $118,448,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764,165 shares during the last quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% during the 4th quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company's stock worth $79,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,783 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3,767.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,751,410 shares of the mining company's stock worth $63,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,569,868 shares of the mining company's stock worth $59,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,335 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.08.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE AU traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,126,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,681,621. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52-week low of $22.45 and a 52-week high of $51.11. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.49.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 21.18%. Research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.14%. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.