South Shore Capital Advisors Buys Shares of 3,099 Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

South Shore Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,162,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,604,000 after purchasing an additional 466,745 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,517,000 after acquiring an additional 582,183 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Astrazeneca by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after buying an additional 1,807,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,707,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,342,000 after buying an additional 660,569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup started coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings started coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, February 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.75.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $202.85 on Tuesday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $122.48 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $314.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.35.

Astrazeneca Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a $1.595 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 156.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Astrazeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.26%.

Astrazeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.