AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Given New $31.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $23.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the mining company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $24.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $23.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.90. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $30.26.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a yield of 1.1%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AU. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $482,183,000 after buying an additional 898,196 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,743,697 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $312,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215,741 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.7% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,002,317 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $162,724,000 after purchasing an additional 594,702 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 226,080 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $180,693,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.