AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Shares Sold by Guggenheim Capital LLC

Guggenheim Capital LLC lowered its stake in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 196,750 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 21,133 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $4,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AU. State Street Corp lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 546.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 211,826 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $5,641,000 after purchasing an additional 179,045 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 327,108 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $8,711,000 after buying an additional 8,676 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 80.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,452 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 11,352 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% during the third 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 period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.8 %

AU stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $40.24. 1,134,076 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,932,983. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a fifty-two week low of $21.90 and a fifty-two week high of $46.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.74.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.80.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

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.