Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Has $172,000 Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 19.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,457 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in AstraZeneca by 650.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AZN. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $83.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $61.24 and a 1 year high of $86.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.42 and its 200-day moving average is $73.97.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.505 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a yield of 200.0%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.97%.

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.