Bank of Stockton Has $307,000 Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Bank of Stockton grew its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,688 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,715 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth $72,437,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after acquiring an additional 564,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,509,000 after acquiring an additional 524,175 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned 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 target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.0 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $74.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $231.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $62.75 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. Research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

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.