Chung Wu Investment Group LLC Sells 300 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC decreased its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 14,797.3% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,322,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307,047 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 406.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after buying an additional 1,621,974 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,329,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 650.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,761,000 after buying an additional 1,070,223 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Four 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $85.31 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.04 and a 200 day moving average of $73.05. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $61.24 and a 1 year high of $85.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.36.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.505 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 37.97%.

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.