National Bank of Canada FI Has $35.03 Million Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 36.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 512,196 shares of the company’s stock after selling 290,414 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $35,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 375.6% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 428 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.7 %

AstraZeneca stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $75.81. The stock had a trading volume of 3,037,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,327,834. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.34. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $76.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $235.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.47.

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 company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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