Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Has $879,000 Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. reduced its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,980 shares of the company’s stock after selling 299 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,444,000 after purchasing an additional 50,750 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 51.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 4,919 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 317.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,136,000 after purchasing an additional 944,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,979,000 after purchasing an additional 49,541 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth $2,241,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AZN traded up $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $75.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,547,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,273,296. The firm has a market cap of $235.26 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.16. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $76.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.965 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 94.61%.

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.