Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Grows Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,229 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,277 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $3,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,000 after buying an additional 4,919 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 113.0% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,444,000 after acquiring an additional 50,750 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 317.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,136,000 after purchasing an additional 944,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,979,000 after purchasing an additional 49,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the third quarter worth about $2,241,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 5.4 %

AstraZeneca stock traded up $3.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $75.03. The stock had a trading volume of 15,604,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,258,403. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $75.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.05 and a 200 day moving average of $66.02. The firm has a market cap of $232.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.19% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.965 per share. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 100.52%.

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.