Brokerages Set AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) PT at $22.50

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.50.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,798,967 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $482,183,000 after purchasing an additional 898,196 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,743,697 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $312,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215,741 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,002,317 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $162,724,000 after acquiring an additional 594,702 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,174,686 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $214,584,000 after acquiring an additional 226,080 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $180,693,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $23.04 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.66. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $14.91 and a 12-month high of $30.26.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.03.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, the Americas, and Australia. 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 project located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.