AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Purchased by Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,714 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in AstraZeneca by 14,797.3% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,322,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,307,047 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in AstraZeneca by 406.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,974 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,166 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in AstraZeneca by 650.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.3%

AZN opened at $83.43 on Thursday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $61.24 and a 52 week high of $86.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.10. The firm has a market cap of $258.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

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.