Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,038,885 shares of the company’s stock after selling 208,198 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,426,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,444,000 after buying an additional 3,670,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at about $158,018,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 15,819.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,179,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,612 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth approximately $72,437,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AZN. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AZN stock opened at $73.79 on Monday. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $62.75 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.41.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. Research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a yield of 2%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.15%.

AstraZeneca 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.