IHT Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,031 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) by 21.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,703 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,530,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,686,816,000 after acquiring an additional 8,319,805 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,715,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,398,000 after buying an additional 434,979 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,096,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,129,543,000 after buying an additional 1,718,792 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,813,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,036,000 after buying an additional 83,177 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 22.0% in 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 period. 16.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $65.61 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $203.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.51. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $52.65 and a one year high of $72.12.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AstraZeneca from £125 ($152.35) to £135 ($164.53) in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on AstraZeneca from GBX 118 ($1.44) to GBX 126 ($1.54) in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AstraZeneca from £101 ($123.10) to £119 ($145.03) in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on AstraZeneca from £120 ($146.25) to £130 ($158.44) in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10,825.11.

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.