Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Lowers Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. reduced its stake in AstraZeneca PLC by 75.1%, holding only 7,057 shares after selling 21,304 shares in the first quarter.
• AstraZeneca recently reported a quarterly revenue of $14.46 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations, with earnings per share coming in at $1.09.
• The company announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.505 per share, with a dividend yield of 200.0%, despite a decrease in the dividend payout ratio to 37.97%.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. reduced its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 75.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,057 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,304 shares during the quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 189.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 24,026,966 shares of the company's stock worth $1,574,247,000 after purchasing an additional 15,722,197 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company's stock worth $1,003,124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of 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 period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.6% during 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $307,464,000 after purchasing an additional 952,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ AZN traded up $1.64 on Wednesday, reaching $81.83. 1,888,620 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,184,768. The company has a market cap of $253.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.37. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $74.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.58. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $61.24 and a 12 month high of $85.99. 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 issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.