Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,605,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at $72,437,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,509,000 after purchasing an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $74.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $231.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $62.75 and a 1 year high of $87.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.60 and a 200 day moving average of $73.30.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. This represents a yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.15%.

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.