AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Gap Up to $71.20

Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $71.20, but opened at $74.99. AstraZeneca shares last traded at $75.19, with a volume of 4,436,841 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AZN. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $233.06 billion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.34% and a net margin of 13.30%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,444,000 after purchasing an additional 50,750 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 4,919 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 317.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,136,000 after purchasing an additional 944,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,979,000 after buying an additional 49,541 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,241,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

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.