First Trust Advisors LP Has $33.99 Million Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 347,332 shares of the mining company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,308 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.07% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $33,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,015,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth approximately $3,085,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth $2,800,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,312 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth $349,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AU. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Roth Capital reduced their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:AU opened at $78.90 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $85.03 and its 200-day moving average is $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12 month low of $45.36 and a 12 month high of $129.14. The firm has a market cap of $39.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.65.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.23 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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