AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Bought by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 770.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,228 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 120,577 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $10,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 68.2% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,899,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,730,000 after buying an additional 770,417 shares during the last quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,066,000. Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the second quarter valued at $1,857,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,255,000 after buying an additional 1,605,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 78,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,472,000 after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AZN. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $92.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $286.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $61.24 and a 12-month high of $94.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.80.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.89% and a net margin of 16.17%.The company had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca’s operations span research and development, large-scale manufacturing, and commercial distribution, with a presence in developed and emerging markets worldwide.

The company focuses on several core therapy areas including oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.