Legal & General Group Plc Buys 284,017 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in Q3, buying 284,017 shares to own 5,136,739 shares (about 1.22% of the company) valued at roughly $361.31 million.
• Other large institutions also increased holdings—State Street added 4,577,807 shares (now 4,967,173), Vanguard holds 22,284,407 shares (about $1.02 billion), and overall institutional ownership stands near 36.09%.
• AngloGold reported quarterly EPS of $1.90 (in line with estimates) and revenue of $3.07 billion (above estimates), but cut its quarterly dividend to $0.173 (annualized $0.69, yield 0.7%) with a payout ratio of 133.33%.

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,136,739 shares of the mining company's stock after buying an additional 284,017 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 1.22% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $361,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AU. State Street Corp grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company's stock worth $226,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,137,721 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $142,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300,204 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter valued at about $74,039,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,017,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 376.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,475,297 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $103,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,954 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $106.29 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $105.53 and its 200 day moving average is $84.93. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $30.94 and a one year high of $129.14. The firm has a market cap of $53.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.70%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. As a group, 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 quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is 133.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, February 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti 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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