Heritage Wealth Management Inc. Invests $688,000 in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 8,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the second quarter worth $12,546,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the second quarter worth $362,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,458,000 after purchasing an additional 186,010 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the second quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the second quarter worth about $332,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $78.67 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $243.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.26.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.