Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 284,017 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 284,017 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $361,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AU. State Street Corp lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after buying an additional 4,577,807 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,137,721 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $142,986,000 after buying an additional 2,300,204 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,039,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,017,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 376.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,475,297 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $103,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,954 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU stock opened at $106.29 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a 52-week low of $30.94 and a 52-week high of $129.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.93.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%.The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.50.

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.