Atlatl Advisers LLC Cuts Stake in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Atlatl Advisers LLC lowered its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,604 shares of the company’s stock after selling 216 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% during 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. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 14,797.3% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,322,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307,047 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 406.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,974 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 650.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,761,000 after buying an additional 1,070,223 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on AZN shares. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ AZN opened at $83.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $258.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.36. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $86.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $80.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.505 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.