Sandy Spring Bank Buys 645 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 36.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,409 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,492,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,351,653,000 after purchasing an additional 358,399 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew 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 buying an additional 1,139,295 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth about $715,198,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,222,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,939 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC began coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $68.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.85. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $76.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 30.19%. The company had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is 100.52%.

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.