Swiss National Bank Purchases 190,782 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Swiss National Bank increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,143,283 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 190,782 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $25,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 76,471.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 10,720 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 10,706 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 232,629 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $5,369,000 after purchasing an additional 22,654 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 1,653,726 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $38,168,000 after purchasing an additional 599,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $439,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of AU opened at $32.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a fifty-two week low of $20.05 and a fifty-two week high of $34.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.72.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.