AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Acquired by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,470 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 375.6% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 428 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $76.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $236.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $76.80.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The company had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.965 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 94.61%.

About AstraZeneca

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.