AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Up 4.6%

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)’s share price shot up 4.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $22.93 and last traded at $22.92. 1,300,401 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 2,177,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $23.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.22.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a 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.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% during 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 buying an additional 898,196 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,743,697 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $312,940,000 after buying an additional 1,215,741 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 312.3% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 6,003,149 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $112,199,000 after buying an additional 4,547,011 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,874,951 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $109,803,000 after buying an additional 446,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TT International Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 3,562,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $66,590,000 after buying an additional 995,709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.