Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Acquires 465 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 37.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,712 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 154,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,433,000 after acquiring an additional 15,642 shares during the period. Cox Capital Mgt LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth about $2,683,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,537,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,160,000 after acquiring an additional 121,876 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $80.53 on Thursday. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.65 and a 200-day moving average of $75.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $249.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is 48.04%.

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.