Sunbelt Securities Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1,760.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,703 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,289 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 19.1% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 17,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 4.5% in the second quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 3,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 4.0% in the second quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.0 %

AZN stock opened at $78.67 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 cap of $243.92 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.26.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

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.