AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Up 4.6%

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.62 and a 200 day moving average of $19.22.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,260,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,900,771 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $393,432,000 after buying an additional 383,360 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth $17,101,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 11.0% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 55,500 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 306.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,272,803 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $20,110,000 after buying an additional 959,346 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.