AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Purchased by Fidelis Capital Partners LLC

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 44.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,013 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,932 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 worth $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth about $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter valued at about $188,476,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 750.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,523,000 after buying an additional 1,132,362 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AZN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Argus raised their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ AZN opened at $78.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.57. The firm has a market cap of $243.02 billion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 48.04%.

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.