QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $15.02 Million Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,883 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,508 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $15,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 30.9% during 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 406.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,974 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 650.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,223 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,807,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,853,000 after purchasing an additional 948,659 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $85.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.07. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.24 and a 52-week high of $85.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $264.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.36.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.505 per share. This represents a yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AZN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

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.