Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases Shares of 108,401 AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 108,401 shares of the mining company's stock, valued at approximately $2,481,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $118,448,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764,165 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 acquiring an additional 2,680,261 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the mining company's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 165.3% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 84,640 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 52,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 100.7% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 560,417 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $12,934,000 after purchasing an additional 281,117 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 0.9 %

AU stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.18. The stock had a trading volume of 2,162,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,490,256. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1-year low of $22.13 and a 1-year high of $46.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.48 and a 200 day moving average of $30.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.75 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AU. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Company 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.