AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is SAL Trading LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

SAL Trading LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 337.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,700 shares during the quarter. AstraZeneca comprises approximately 10.5% of SAL Trading LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. SAL Trading LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $6,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 worth $4,151,177,000 after acquiring an additional 9,002,450 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,342,367,000 after purchasing an additional 164,183 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,617,000 after purchasing an additional 889,178 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,487,000 after purchasing an additional 205,185 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,365,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,525,000 after purchasing an additional 29,497 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on AZN shares. 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $77.62 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $87.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.97. The firm has a market cap of $240.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.47.

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

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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