Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 4,951 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV cut its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 3.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. 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 quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 108.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 32.4% in 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 338.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 1st quarter worth about $118,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AU traded down $0.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.67. The company had a trading volume of 978,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,906,835. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $28.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12 month low of $14.91 and a 12 month high of $32.57.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

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.