Blue Barn Wealth LLC Takes Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Blue Barn Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,492,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,351,653,000 after acquiring an additional 358,399 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.2% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,937,000 after buying an additional 1,139,295 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth about $715,198,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,404,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,361,000 after acquiring an additional 233,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,242,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,294,000 after purchasing an additional 201,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AZN. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.32. The stock had a trading volume of 6,659,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,361,413. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.42. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $76.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.41, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.965 per share. This is a boost 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 94.61%.

AstraZeneca Company 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.