Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $1.04 Million Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,534 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the fourth 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 period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth about $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter worth about $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at about $143,999,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Argus lifted 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. Finally, Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $78.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $243.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.57. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s 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.