Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $14.52 Million Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,152 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,551 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $14,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 164,183 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted 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 worth $988,972,000 after buying an additional 4,122,965 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,424,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,617,000 after buying an additional 889,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,404,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,361,000 after buying an additional 233,015 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. Argus boosted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.43. 2,122,558 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,360,943. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.14 and a 200-day moving average of $73.07. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $83.64. The firm has a market cap of $258.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.87, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.