Capital Market Strategies LLC Sells 269 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Capital Market Strategies LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,091 shares of the company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the second quarter worth $188,476,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 750.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 65.1% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,934,000 after purchasing an additional 950,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $77.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $241.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.28. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 payout ratio is 48.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZN shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup raised AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays raised AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

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.