Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Purchases 585 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 20.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,455 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 585 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,283,000 after acquiring an additional 261,064 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,077,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,939,000 after acquiring an additional 701,779 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,003,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,387,000 after acquiring an additional 272,537 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 target price on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.3%

AZN opened at $73.76 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.13 and a 200 day moving average of $72.91. The company has a market cap of $228.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.37. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $61.24 and a 12 month high of $82.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.505 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a yield of 200.0%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.97%.

About AstraZeneca

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.