Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Invests $360,000 in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 4,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 468.4% during the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 1,614.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 463 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZN shares. Argus increased their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. 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 research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded up $0.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $86.66. 3,336,031 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,328,453. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.48, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $86.88.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $12.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid 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 payout ratio is 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.