Everpar Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 11,018 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $742,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at about $715,198,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,180,000 after buying an additional 2,050,064 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.2% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,937,000 after buying an additional 1,139,295 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 346.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,696,000 after buying an additional 1,102,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 317.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,136,000 after buying an additional 944,765 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.32. 6,659,937 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,361,413. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $76.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.42.

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

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.965 per share. 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. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. 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.