Cullinan Associates Inc. Sells 5,000 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Cullinan Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 38.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,251 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,283,000 after acquiring an additional 261,064 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,077,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,939,000 after acquiring an additional 701,779 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,003,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,387,000 after acquiring an additional 272,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $85.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $85.50. The company has a market cap of $264.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.05.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.