AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Purchased by Creative Planning

Creative Planning boosted its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,751 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,692 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $17,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 7.1% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 78,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,134,000 after purchasing an additional 5,232 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 7.3% in the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 3.4% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 26.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.8% in the third quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 21,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,709,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AZN shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AZN opened at $77.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.35. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The stock has a market cap of $240.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.46.

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 business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 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.