16,079 Shares of AstraZeneca Plc $AZN Acquired by Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Provenance Wealth Advisors acquired 16,079 AstraZeneca shares in the third quarter, valued at approximately $2.6 million.
• AstraZeneca beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $2.79 versus the $2.60 consensus and revenue of $16.21 billion, up 6.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: 16 analysts rate the stock Buy and three rate it Hold, for a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $206.67.

Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,596,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Amundi raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 16,422,784 shares of the company's stock worth $3,114,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036,635 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 889.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,319,947,000 after purchasing an additional 10,742,268 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 208.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,386,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,048,417,000 after purchasing an additional 7,021,126 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 106,772.0% during the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 8,054,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,560,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.5% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 6,690,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,252,044,000 after purchasing an additional 160,339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $183.79 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $165.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $285.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.24. AstraZeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $153.41 and a 52-week high of $212.71.

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.19. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 31.85%. The firm had revenue of $16.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings raised AstraZeneca from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Nordea Equity Research upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.67.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca plc is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company discovers, develops and commercializes prescription medicines, with a focus on oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare diseases. Its research and commercial operations serve patients and healthcare systems across more than 100 countries.

AstraZeneca’s portfolio includes medicines for cancer, respiratory and immune-mediated conditions, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, and rare disorders.

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