AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,292 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 28,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 4,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 59.8% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.7% during the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 23,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AZN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 target price on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN opened at $84.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.09 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $61.24 and a 1 year high of $86.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.69.

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

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.505 per share. This represents a yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio 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.