AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Acquired by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 33.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 105,122 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,391 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $6,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,437,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,509,000 after acquiring an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 1,039.6% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 400,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,215,000 after acquiring an additional 365,121 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.4 %

AZN stock opened at $68.20 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $87.68. The firm has a market cap of $211.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AstraZeneca

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.