AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by New England Research & Management Inc.

New England Research & Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,177,000 after acquiring an additional 9,002,450 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,367,000 after buying an additional 164,183 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122,965 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,617,000 after purchasing an additional 889,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,404,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,361,000 after buying an additional 233,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AZN traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.25. The company had a trading volume of 5,683,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,365,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $82.01. The firm has a market cap of $245.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.54.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.61%.

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.