Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,621 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Cox Capital Mgt LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at $2,683,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in AstraZeneca by 8.6% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,537,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,160,000 after acquiring an additional 121,876 shares in the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the second quarter worth approximately $269,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 9.7% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 124.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 98,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,657,000 after purchasing an additional 54,488 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AZN. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $77.47 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a market capitalization of $240.20 billion, a PE ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.28.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.04%.

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.