1832 Asset Management L.P. Reduces Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

1832 Asset Management L.P. lessened its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 82.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,492 shares of the company’s stock after selling 289,486 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122,965 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter worth $143,999,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,064 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 118.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,592,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,591 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 346.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Argus raised their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.13. 5,878,523 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,316,286. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $80.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.94.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS 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 29.66%. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.61%.

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.