DRW Securities LLC Purchases New Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 25,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,950,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,151,177,000 after acquiring an additional 9,002,450 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,367,000 after purchasing an additional 164,183 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122,965 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,617,000 after buying an additional 889,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,487,000 after buying an additional 205,185 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Argus lifted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN opened at $78.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $243.02 billion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a 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.