Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Takes Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 154,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,433,000 after acquiring an additional 15,642 shares during the period. Cox Capital Mgt LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,683,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,537,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,160,000 after buying an additional 121,876 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the second quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.7% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays raised AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $78.27 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.24. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a market capitalization of $242.68 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 48.04%.

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.