Wesbanco Bank Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 11.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,646 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,069 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $8,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $426,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 164,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,786,000 after purchasing an additional 6,039 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 59,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,923,000 after purchasing an additional 7,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $79.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.95 and a 200-day moving average of $72.95. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $61.24 and a 12-month high of $82.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $246.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.37.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.505 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.