Thrive Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Thrive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 25.3% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 21,545,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,465,000 after buying an additional 4,348,916 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 205.8% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 16,190,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,759,000 after purchasing an additional 10,895,302 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,222,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,194 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,179,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,574,000 after purchasing an additional 499,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.5% during the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,743,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,888,000 after purchasing an additional 41,104 shares in the last quarter. 15.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Argus lowered their price target on AstraZeneca from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of AZN stock opened at $66.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.11. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $52.65 and a 1 year high of $76.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $206.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.50.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.11. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 30.39%. The company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.06 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.465 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.73%.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Andexxa/Ondexxya, Atacand, Atacand HCT, Atacand Plus, Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, Xigduo/Xigduo, and Zestril XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Accolate, Accoleit, Vanticon, Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Bricanyl Respules and Turbuhaler, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Rhinocort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tezspire for respiratory and immunology; and Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases.