Truist Financial Corp Buys 108,262 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC by 15.3%, owning a total of 813,753 shares valued at approximately $56.87 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly boosted their holdings in AstraZeneca, with some firms increasing their stakes by over 10,000%.
• AstraZeneca's shares have shown solid financial performance, reporting $14.46 billion in revenue for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and indicating a year-over-year growth of 16.1%.

Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 15.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 813,753 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 108,262 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $56,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 93.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 10,431.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 579,033 shares of the company's stock worth $42,559,000 after purchasing an additional 573,535 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 95,925.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,841 shares of the company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,837 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,033 shares of the company's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 166.8% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 23,583 shares of the company's stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,743 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 target price on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $84.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $261.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.36. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $84.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.59 and a 200-day moving average of $73.00. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

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

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