LVW Advisors LLC Grows Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

LVW Advisors LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,650 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after buying an additional 4,122,965 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter worth about $143,999,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,064 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 118.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,592,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,591 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 346.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $77.99 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $80.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.43. The stock has a market cap of $241.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.45.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $12.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. On average, research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Argus raised their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

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.