Financial Counselors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,520 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,492,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,351,653,000 after buying an additional 358,399 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 5.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,295 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth approximately $715,198,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,222,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 22.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $68.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $213.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.83. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $76.56.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.19% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.965 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 100.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

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.