AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Shares Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Free Report) by 4,574.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 750,251 shares of the mining company's stock after purchasing an additional 734,202 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.18% of AngloGold Ashanti worth $17,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,046,670 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $47,237,000 after buying an additional 756,801 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,370,000. Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,691,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,116,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,135 shares of the mining company's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AU shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.30.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.66. 2,738,231 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,574,337. The firm has a market cap of $17.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $38.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.25. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1-year low of $22.13 and a 1-year high of $46.90.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a yield of 2.8%. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.