Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 6,769 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,769 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 105,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,144,000 after purchasing an additional 10,103 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 13,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 887,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,083,000 after purchasing an additional 45,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $76.35. The company had a trading volume of 9,026,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,367,026. The firm has a market cap of $236.72 billion, a PE ratio of 37.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $76.80.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.965 per share. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.61%.

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.