11,368 Shares in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 11,368 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,627 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,808,000 after buying an additional 122,507 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $1,478,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Sprott Inc. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 91,168 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,104,000 after buying an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 599,937 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $13,847,000 after buying an additional 54,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AU stock opened at $35.43 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a one year low of $21.23 and a one year high of $36.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

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.