Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 354 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 169,790 shares of the company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $13,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 154,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,433,000 after acquiring an additional 15,642 shares during the period. Cox Capital Mgt LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth approximately $2,683,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 8.6% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,537,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,160,000 after purchasing an additional 121,876 shares in the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $83.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share 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 29.34%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a yield of 1.8%. 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.