Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 35.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300,606 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 342,185 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $87,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 996 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 966.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 31,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 28,094 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 243,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,412,000 after acquiring an additional 5,289 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 6,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 61,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,167,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.2 %

AstraZeneca stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.17. The stock had a trading volume of 6,687,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,667. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $75.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $233.06 billion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.50.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly 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). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.34% and a net margin of 13.30%. The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.965 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 94.61%.

AstraZeneca Company 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.