Cetera Trust Company N.A Purchases Shares of 3,700 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.7% in 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 buying an additional 358,399 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,295 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth about $715,198,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in AstraZeneca by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,222,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,194 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,939 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $69.79 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $76.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.87. The company has a market capitalization of $216.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.50.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 30.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

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.