Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Purchases 939 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,336 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth $28,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 55.1% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,249 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 22.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,939 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 102.7% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 2.8% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $68.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.88. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $76.56. The company has a market capitalization of $212.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.19% and a net margin of 13.00%. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.965 dividend. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 100.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

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.