Sapient Capital LLC Invests $539,000 in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,492,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,351,653,000 after purchasing an additional 358,399 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,139,295 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $715,198,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,404,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,361,000 after purchasing an additional 233,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,242,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,294,000 after buying an additional 201,104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of AZN opened at $75.85 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $235.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $76.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

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). The company had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.965 per share. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. 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.