AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Bought by Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 26.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,402 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,599 shares during the quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in AstraZeneca by 17.2% during 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 buying an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,365,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $634,525,000 after acquiring an additional 29,497 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 16.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,565,000 after purchasing an additional 488,644 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,458,000 after purchasing an additional 186,010 shares during the period. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 2,990,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,588,000 after purchasing an additional 134,784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded down $0.27 on Friday, hitting $77.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 626,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,062,210. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.04. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $87.68. The company has a market capitalization of $241.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank raised AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

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.