Heritage Wealth Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 468.4% during the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 449 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AZN shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Erste Group Bank raised AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays raised AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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 assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ AZN opened at $78.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $243.92 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 1.47 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. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.65 and a 200-day moving average of $77.26.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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