Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Trims Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,837 shares of the company’s stock after selling 474 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,444,000 after acquiring an additional 50,750 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 4,919 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 317.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,136,000 after purchasing an additional 944,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,979,000 after buying an additional 49,541 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at about $2,241,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $75.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.38 and a 200-day moving average of $66.34. The firm has a market cap of $234.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $76.80.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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