AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by Ingalls & Snyder LLC

Ingalls & Snyder LLC decreased its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,615 shares of the company’s stock after selling 981 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 1.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,080,000 after buying an additional 258,477 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,430,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,011,037,000 after buying an additional 466,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,509,000 after buying an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $74.43 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.48. The stock has a market cap of $230.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.76 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.55%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a yield of 2%. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

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.