First City Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,873 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

First City Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,873 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.7 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $78.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The company 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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.04%.

AstraZeneca Company 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.