AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,930,000 shares, an increase of 43.2% from the October 15th total of 8,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AU traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,484,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,474,569. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52 week low of $15.80 and a 52 week high of $32.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AU. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 748.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 45,142 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 39,819 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth about $303,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth about $596,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,808,722 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $373,154,000 after purchasing an additional 65,025 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth about $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Investec upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank restated a “sector underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

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.