Savant Capital LLC Has $2.83 Million Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Savant Capital LLC cut its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 501 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,492,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,351,653,000 after acquiring an additional 358,399 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,295 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $715,198,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,242,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,294,000 after buying an additional 201,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,274,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,778,000 after buying an additional 48,524 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZN. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AZN stock opened at $76.41 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.94 and a 200-day moving average of $66.23. The stock has a market cap of $236.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $76.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

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.