Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Key Points

• Valeo Financial Advisors LLC significantly increased its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC by 14,797.3% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 2,322,638 shares, which represent 0.5% of its investment portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and American Century Companies, also increased their positions in AstraZeneca, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• AstraZeneca has an average target price of $86.00 with a current stock price of $85.31 and has been rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts.

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 14,797.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,322,638 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,307,047 shares during the quarter. AstraZeneca comprises 0.5% of Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of AstraZeneca worth $162,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company's stock worth $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in AstraZeneca by 406.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,517,000 after buying an additional 1,621,974 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 650.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,234,847 shares of the company's stock worth $90,761,000 after buying an additional 1,070,223 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 33.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,807,522 shares of the company's stock worth $279,853,000 after purchasing an additional 948,659 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 target price on AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $85.31 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $264.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $85.50. The company's 50-day moving average price is $78.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.05.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.505 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 200.0%. AstraZeneca's dividend 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.

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