AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,980 shares of the company’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 32.5% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 4,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 3.4% in the first quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 24,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Professional Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at $20,174,000. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 15.4% in the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 3,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at $429,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded up $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $75.88. 8,547,254 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,273,296. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $76.58.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.965 per share. This represents a yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 94.61%.

AstraZeneca Company 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.