Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $678,000.
A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company's stock worth $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $188,476,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 750.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 65.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company's stock worth $187,934,000 after acquiring an additional 950,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company's stock.
AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.4 %
AZN traded down $0.29 on Thursday, reaching $78.02. 2,979,709 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,084,276. The company has a market cap of $241.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $81.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.04. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $87.68.
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 29.34%. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. AstraZeneca's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.
AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend
The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.34%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank raised AstraZeneca from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.75.
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About AstraZeneca
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Free Report)
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.
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