Providence Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $279,000 Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Providence Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.3% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 41,200,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,879,062,000 after acquiring an additional 538,606 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,298,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,488,332,000 after purchasing an additional 196,401 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the 1st 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. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,133 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $91.00 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $282.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.34. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $61.24 and a 1-year high of $91.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.00 and a 200-day moving average of $76.84.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.05. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.