AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Bought by Modern Wealth Management LLC

Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,785 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,251 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,283,000 after acquiring an additional 261,064 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,003,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,387,000 after acquiring an additional 272,537 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,807,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,853,000 after buying an additional 948,659 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $78.05 on Tuesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $61.24 and a one year high of $82.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $242.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.94.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.505 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 37.97%.

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.