EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 800 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 15.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,117 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,342,367,000 after acquiring an additional 164,183 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,617,000 after purchasing an additional 889,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,376,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,487,000 after purchasing an additional 205,185 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $77.14 on Tuesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The firm has a market cap of $239.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.80 and a 200-day moving average of $76.73.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given 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 is 48.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

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.