AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 491,469 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,758 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $38,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position 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 worth $988,972,000 after buying an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the second quarter valued at approximately $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,999,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus raised their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $80.53 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $81.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.99. The stock has a market cap of $249.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is 48.04%.

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.