AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Acquired by Richardson Financial Services Inc.

Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 59.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 398 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 14,797.3% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,322,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307,047 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 406.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,974 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 650.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,223 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $84.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $86.57. The firm has a market cap of $262.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.36.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AZN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.