Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Cuts Stock Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV decreased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,282 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 23,107 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $3,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $467,795,000 after buying an additional 3,882,283 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $118,448,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764,165 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 3,767.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,751,410 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $63,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680,261 shares during the last quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $79,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth $24,741,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AU. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.08.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AU opened at $50.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.92. 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 1 year low of $22.34 and a 1 year high of $51.11.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.