Continental Investors Services Inc. Purchases New Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Continental Investors Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 43,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,785,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 55.1% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 4,249 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,328,000 after buying an additional 1,343,939 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 102.7% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 525 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet upgraded AstraZeneca from a “c” rating to an “a” rating in a research note on Monday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on AstraZeneca from £120 ($146.25) to £130 ($158.44) in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AstraZeneca from £125 ($152.35) to £135 ($164.53) in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on AstraZeneca from £101 ($123.10) to £119 ($145.03) in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on AstraZeneca from GBX 118 ($1.44) to GBX 126 ($1.54) in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10,825.11.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $65.61 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.35. The firm has a market cap of $203.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.32, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.51. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $52.65 and a 52-week high of $72.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.985 per share. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 180.38%.

About AstraZeneca

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AstraZeneca Plc is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company was founded on June 17, 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.