Cable Hill Partners LLC Sells 303 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Cable Hill Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,108 shares of the company’s stock after selling 303 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,705,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,806,000 after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth about $78,000. Golden State Equity Partners purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth about $273,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth about $101,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in AstraZeneca by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 33,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN stock opened at $75.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $234.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $62.75 and a 1 year high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.11.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. This represents a yield of 2%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 91.15%.

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.