AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by Physician Wealth Advisors Inc.

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 875 shares during the quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,430,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,037,000 after buying an additional 466,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,959,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,090,000 after buying an additional 479,692 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670,719 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AZN. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $73.79 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.41. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $62.75 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.61.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. Equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 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 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a yield of 2%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is 91.15%.

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.