AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Acquired by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 197.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,278 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,842 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the first 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 during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% in 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. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth about $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the second quarter worth about $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter worth about $143,999,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AZN stock traded up $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 581,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,323,305. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $265.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.56. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $85.63.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.04%.

AstraZeneca 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.