AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Acquired by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,716 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,040 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after buying an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,283,000 after acquiring an additional 261,064 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 7.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,003,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,387,000 after acquiring an additional 272,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 33.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,807,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,853,000 after purchasing an additional 948,659 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 target price on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN opened at $81.70 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $253.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.90 and a 200-day moving average of $72.73. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.24 and a 52-week high of $84.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.505 per share. This represents a yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is 37.97%.

AstraZeneca Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.