AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Bought by Physician Wealth Advisors Inc.

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 19.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,069 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RFP Financial Group LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 56.3% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 494 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $78.31 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.04. The firm has a market cap of $242.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.34%.

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.