Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC Sells 3,574 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,169 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,574 shares during the period. Astrazeneca makes up 0.9% of Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $10,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 64,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,942,000 after buying an additional 11,398 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,595,000 after buying an additional 181,273 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 111.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 66,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,113,000 after buying an additional 35,148 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,298,000 after buying an additional 7,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 96.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 77,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,953,000 after buying an additional 38,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE AZN opened at $182.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $283.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $194.66 and its 200 day moving average is $180.88. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $132.32 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. Sell-side analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Astrazeneca Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.595 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a yield of 156.0%. Astrazeneca’s payout ratio is 65.17%.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.