AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,628 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,376 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at $715,198,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 281.2% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,064 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,295 shares during the period. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 346.3% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,490 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 317.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,136,000 after purchasing an additional 944,765 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $70.85 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.92. The firm has a market cap of $219.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $76.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.19% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.965 dividend. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.00.

AstraZeneca Company 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.