Eagle Strategies LLC Makes New $796,000 Investment in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Eagle Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,782,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,367,000 after purchasing an additional 164,183 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,617,000 after purchasing an additional 889,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 2.2% during the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Argus increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $80.53 on Thursday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.99. The firm has a market cap of $249.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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