Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 1,534 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. cut its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 10.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,534 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% in 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 buying an additional 9,002,450 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.5% in the 4th 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 grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,617,000 after purchasing an additional 889,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,487,000 after purchasing an additional 205,185 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AZN shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Argus lifted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.7 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $78.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.80 and its 200-day moving average is $76.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.02 billion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. 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.