AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Bought by Channing Global Advisors LLC

Channing Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 74.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,231 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,367 shares during the quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 320.8% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 22.9% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 543,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 101,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AZN. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $72.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.48. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 13.01%. On average, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 43.36%.

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.