Financial Advocates Investment Management Acquires 2,178 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 17.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,762 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,178 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in 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 worth $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,342,367,000 after acquiring an additional 164,183 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122,965 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,617,000 after purchasing an additional 889,178 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,404,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,361,000 after purchasing an additional 233,015 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Argus lifted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $87.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $270.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.79, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.45. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.63.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 48.04%.

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 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.