Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in AstraZeneca Plc $AZN

Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 146,574.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,456,000 after acquiring an additional 15,375,659 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 889.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,319,947,000 after purchasing an additional 10,742,268 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 106,772.0% during the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 8,054,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047,406 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 208.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,386,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,417,000 after purchasing an additional 7,021,126 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,202,714,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AZN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. HSBC downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.67.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $183.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $165.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.16. AstraZeneca Plc has a one year low of $153.41 and a one year high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $285.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.24.

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $16.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 31.85%. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca plc is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company discovers, develops and commercializes prescription medicines, with a focus on oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare diseases. Its research and commercial operations serve patients and healthcare systems across more than 100 countries.

AstraZeneca’s portfolio includes medicines for cancer, respiratory and immune-mediated conditions, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, and rare disorders.