AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Bought by Callan Capital LLC

Callan Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,831 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,444,000 after acquiring an additional 50,750 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 51.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 4,919 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 worth $84,136,000 after acquiring an additional 944,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,979,000 after acquiring an additional 49,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.17. 6,687,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,265,456. The stock has a market cap of $233.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.07. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $75.81.

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

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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