D.B. Root & Company LLC Has $669,000 Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

D.B. Root & Company LLC lessened its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,574 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,444,000 after buying an additional 50,750 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 154,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,433,000 after buying an additional 15,642 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,395,000. Cox Capital Mgt LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,683,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in AstraZeneca by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,537,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,160,000 after purchasing an additional 121,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on AZN shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $82.52. The stock had a trading volume of 9,202,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,370,150. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.95. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $82.91. The firm has a market cap of $255.85 billion, a PE ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.04%.

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.