U S Global Investors Inc. Sells 40,000 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

U S Global Investors Inc. cut its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 60,000 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $1,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $586,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 39.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,448,445 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $277,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,304 shares during the period. TT International Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $75,525,000 after purchasing an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at $45,043,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,934,603 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $44,651,000 after buying an additional 542,463 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $29.31 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a one year low of $17.94 and a one year high of $33.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.74. 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 (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22.

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.