AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Sold by Oak Family Advisors LLC

Oak Family Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,514 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,228 shares during the period. AstraZeneca accounts for approximately 3.7% of Oak Family Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Oak Family Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $11,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 5.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,283,000 after acquiring an additional 261,064 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 20.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,077,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,939,000 after acquiring an additional 701,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 7.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,003,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,387,000 after acquiring an additional 272,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $74.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.37. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $61.24 and a one year high of $82.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.505 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.97%.

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.