Chicago Capital LLC Cuts Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Chicago Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,529 shares of the company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,151,177,000 after buying an additional 9,002,450 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,367,000 after acquiring an additional 164,183 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,617,000 after purchasing an additional 889,178 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,487,000 after purchasing an additional 205,185 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.1 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $83.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $257.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.66.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Argus increased their target price on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

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.