Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,075 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,751 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the first 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 buying an additional 9,002,450 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122,965 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,999,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AZN. Citigroup upgraded 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 report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $78.58 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The stock has a market cap of $243.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.52, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. 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 (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a dividend 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.