Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Purchases New Holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,612 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $887,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 30.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,023 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.3% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 91,793 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.3% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,399 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,878 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $89.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 12 month low of $22.45 and a 12 month high of $91.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $78.62 and its 200-day moving average is $64.31.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%. Equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 80.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Roth Capital boosted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.