Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 307,954 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,213 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $24,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in 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. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth approximately $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the second quarter worth $188,476,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 750.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,362 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 65.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,934,000 after buying an additional 950,000 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of AZN opened at $77.62 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.03. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 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.