LVW Advisors LLC Trims Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

LVW Advisors LLC reduced its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,526 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,548 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,487,000 after acquiring an additional 205,185 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,365,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $634,525,000 after acquiring an additional 29,497 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,565,000 after acquiring an additional 488,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,458,000 after acquiring an additional 186,010 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.3 %

AZN traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.09. The stock had a trading volume of 803,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,119,192. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.67. The company has a market capitalization of $239.02 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.34%.

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.