AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Bought by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 82.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,967 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,315 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,365,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,525,000 after purchasing an additional 29,497 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,565,000 after purchasing an additional 488,644 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,458,000 after purchasing an additional 186,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 2,990,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,588,000 after purchasing an additional 134,784 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $77.85 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $241.37 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.04.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given 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 is currently 48.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Erste Group Bank raised AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.