Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $8.90 Million Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Key Points

• Howe & Rusling Inc. reduced its stake in AstraZeneca PLC by 22.6%, owning 121,112 shares valued at $8.90 million after selling 35,353 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and American Century Companies, significantly increased their stakes in AstraZeneca during the same period, demonstrating increasing confidence in the company's prospects.
• AstraZeneca's stock is rated as a "Moderate Buy" with a current target price of $86.00, while the company reported revenue growth of 16.1% year-over-year in its last quarter.

Howe & Rusling Inc. reduced its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,112 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,353 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.'s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $8,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 406.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company's stock worth $148,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,974 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company's stock worth $368,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 815.8% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,073,630 shares of the company's stock worth $70,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 650.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company's stock worth $90,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,223 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.4%

AZN stock opened at $81.10 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.24 and a 52-week high of $82.41.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.505 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. AstraZeneca's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.97%.

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.

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