AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Stock Holdings Lowered by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,412 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,342 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $14,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,283,000 after purchasing an additional 261,064 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,077,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,939,000 after buying an additional 701,779 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 7.3% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,003,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,387,000 after buying an additional 272,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $84.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.45. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.24 and a 52-week high of $86.57.

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

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.505 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a yield of 200.0%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

About AstraZeneca

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.