Wealthspire Advisors LLC Has $344,000 Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,409 shares of the company’s stock after selling 526 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,367,000 after buying an additional 164,183 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,972,000 after buying an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,617,000 after acquiring an additional 889,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,487,000 after acquiring an additional 205,185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $79.04 on Tuesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $87.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $81.75 and its 200-day moving average is $76.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.07 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Argus lifted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

About AstraZeneca

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.