American Assets Inc. Buys Shares of 6,500 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

American Assets Inc. bought a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000. AstraZeneca makes up about 0.1% of American Assets Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $158,018,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,605,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth about $72,437,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 6,835.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 708,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,389,000 after purchasing an additional 697,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.0 %

AZN stock opened at $77.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.41. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.74.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. This represents a yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.