AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Shares Sold by Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV decreased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 121,326 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 4,951 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $3,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AU. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,938 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 26.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,215 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 57,452 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,486 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,525 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE AU traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 978,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,906,835. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.49. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 52 week low of $14.91 and a 52 week high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19.

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.