AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Short Interest Update

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,450,000 shares, a decline of 27.2% from the August 31st total of 8,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Institutional Trading of AstraZeneca

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 8,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 19.1% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 0.8% during the second quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 17,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 40.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Sunpointe LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 4.5% during the second quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 3,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock traded down $0.18 on Friday, reaching $78.00. 2,106,671 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,208,508. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.71 and a 200-day moving average of $76.90. AstraZeneca has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The firm has a market cap of $241.84 billion, a PE ratio of 38.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AZN. TD Cowen boosted their target price on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

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.