Altrius Capital Management Inc Buys 1,633 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,717 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the period. AstraZeneca accounts for about 1.9% of Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $6,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,444,000 after purchasing an additional 50,750 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 51.8% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 4,919 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 944,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,979,000 after buying an additional 49,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the third quarter worth approximately $2,241,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN traded up $0.31 on Monday, hitting $75.48. 4,589,756 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,245,025. The company has a market cap of $234.02 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.05. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $76.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2.3%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 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.