NTV Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

NTV Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after buying an additional 3,224,251 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after buying an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 650.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,761,000 after buying an additional 1,070,223 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 33.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,807,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,853,000 after buying an additional 948,659 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $85.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $264.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.36. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $85.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $78.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.10.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.505 dividend. 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 presently 37.97%.

About AstraZeneca

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.