American National Bank & Trust Co. VA Buys New Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,055,000. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZN. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $76.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.68. The company has a market cap of $238.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.45. 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 PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $80.86.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $12.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.92 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.