SVB Wealth LLC Has $1.42 Million Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

SVB Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,017 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 868 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $715,198,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,290,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 407.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,093,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,286,137 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 281.2% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 683.3% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,814,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $68.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.87. The company has a market cap of $211.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $76.56.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 30.19%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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%. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.52%.

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.