AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 47.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 381,627 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 122,507 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $8,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,448,445 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $277,968,000 after buying an additional 2,957,304 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during 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 buying an additional 962,141 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,043,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 39.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU opened at $35.43 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a twelve month low of $21.23 and a twelve month high of $36.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti 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.