Mutual Advisors LLC Grows Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 25.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,167 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,712 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after buying an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after buying an additional 1,329,166 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,283,000 after buying an additional 261,064 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in AstraZeneca by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,077,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,939,000 after buying an additional 701,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,003,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,387,000 after buying an additional 272,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $84.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $61.24 and a one year high of $86.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.23 and a 200 day moving average of $73.86.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.505 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 37.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca 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.