Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Increases Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 61.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,305 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 4,875.0% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the first quarter worth $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the first quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 4th. Argus reduced their price target on AstraZeneca from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $66.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $68.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.11. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $52.65 and a 1 year high of $76.56. The company has a market cap of $206.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.50.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.11. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.39% and a net margin of 13.86%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.06 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.465 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 10th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.73%.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Andexxa/Ondexxya, Atacand, Atacand HCT, Atacand Plus, Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, Xigduo/Xigduo, and Zestril XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Accolate, Accoleit, Vanticon, Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Bricanyl Respules and Turbuhaler, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Rhinocort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tezspire for respiratory and immunology; and Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases.