Goodman Advisory Group LLC Buys New Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,342,367,000 after buying an additional 164,183 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,617,000 after buying an additional 889,178 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,487,000 after acquiring an additional 205,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. Citigroup raised AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on 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 AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Barclays raised 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 issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.97. The firm has a market cap of $240.66 billion, a PE ratio of 38.05, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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