William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 4,698 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,877 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,698 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 261,064 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 701,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 Stock Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $83.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $260.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $80.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.97. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $61.24 and a 52 week high of $86.57.

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

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AZN. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.