Wesbanco Bank Inc. Buys New Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 73,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,012,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 375.6% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 428 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 468.4% during the 4th quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 449 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered AstraZeneca from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.8 %

AZN traded down $0.61 on Thursday, hitting $75.80. The company had a trading volume of 10,038,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,325,924. The company's fifty day moving average price is $67.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.23. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $76.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $235.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.16, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47.

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

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.965 dividend. This is an increase from AstraZeneca's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca's payout ratio is currently 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.

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