Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 344,407 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lessened its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 811,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 344,407 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $56,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,712,000 after buying an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,283,000 after buying an additional 261,064 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 20.8% during the second 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 boosted 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 worth $295,387,000 after buying an additional 272,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $83.87 on Tuesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $86.57. The company has a market cap of $260.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released 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 business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.