Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 839,623 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 45.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,006,907 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 839,623 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $23,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AU. 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 acquiring an additional 2,957,304 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth $45,043,000. TT International Asset Management LTD raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $75,525,000 after acquiring an additional 962,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 159.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,251,492 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $33,327,000 after acquiring an additional 768,363 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE:AU opened at $35.43 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 1 year low of $20.46 and a 1 year high of $36.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.91.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.