Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,590 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 165,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,590 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $10,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in AstraZeneca by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 608 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in AstraZeneca by 22.9% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 543,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 101,225 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 2,618.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AZN opened at $75.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $234.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $62.75 and a 1 year high of $87.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.11.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted 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 net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. On average, equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s 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.