BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 303,064 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Key Points

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BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 33.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 594,686 shares of the company's stock after selling 303,064 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $43,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 189.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 24,026,966 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,574,247,000 after buying an additional 15,722,197 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $1,003,124,000 after buying an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,322,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,730,000 after buying an additional 636,537 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $368,712,000 after buying an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,692,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,464,000 after buying an additional 952,010 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $80.97. 3,603,793 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,450,153. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.36. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $61.24 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.