AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Bought by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 39,611 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,541 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,430,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,037,000 after purchasing an additional 466,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,959,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,090,000 after purchasing an additional 479,692 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,444,000 after buying an additional 3,670,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $73.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.93. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $62.75 and a 1 year high of $87.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.74.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.15%.

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.