AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Stock Holdings Raised by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 488,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $266,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,177,000 after buying an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after buying an additional 4,122,965 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth about $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter worth about $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter worth about $143,999,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price 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. Argus upped their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $78.27 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The firm has a market cap of $242.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.71 and a 200-day moving average of $76.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.04%.

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.