Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,681,303 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 390,407 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $306,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AZN. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 115.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 4,430 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 2,618.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $754,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 3,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $72.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $61.24 and a 12-month high of $87.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.40.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $13.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.71 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 82.73%.

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.