AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) saw a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,420,000 shares, a decrease of 29.4% from the August 31st total of 9,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Better Money Decisions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. DB Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 4,875.0% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.55% of the company’s stock.
AstraZeneca Trading Up 2.7 %
Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $54.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.48 billion, a PE ratio of -133.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.44. AstraZeneca has a 1 year low of $52.65 and a 1 year high of $71.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 29th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $10.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.44 billion. AstraZeneca had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a positive return on equity of 25.88%. Analysts expect that AstraZeneca will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.
AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend
The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.465 per share. This represents a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 11th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is -221.95%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have issued reports on AZN. AlphaValue raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Monday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 7th. TheStreet downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 30th. Argus raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8,840.50.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases.