AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Stock Position Raised by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 9.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 879,446 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,588 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $68,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cox Capital Mgt LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter valued at $2,683,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,537,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,160,000 after buying an additional 121,876 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the second quarter worth about $269,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 124.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 98,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,657,000 after purchasing an additional 54,488 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $78.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.57. The company has a market cap of $243.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G 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 PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 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.