4,586 Shares in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Bought by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 4,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 3,350.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZN. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings began coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $183.27 on Tuesday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $132.32 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The company has a market cap of $284.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.02 and a 200 day moving average of $180.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current year.

Astrazeneca Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a $1.595 dividend. This represents a yield of 156.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Astrazeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.43%.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.