Clarius Group LLC Has $940,000 Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Clarius Group LLC reduced its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,454 shares of the company’s stock after selling 385 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 406.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,974 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,166 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 650.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,807,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,853,000 after acquiring an additional 948,659 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $85.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.36. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $61.24 and a 1 year high of $85.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.505 per share. This represents a yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is 37.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AZN. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.