Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership Purchases Shares of 217,824 AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 217,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,010,000. AstraZeneca accounts for 2.3% of Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter worth $426,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 164,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,786,000 after purchasing an additional 6,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in AstraZeneca by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 69,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,589,000 after purchasing an additional 5,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price objective on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.5%

AZN stock opened at $80.81 on Thursday. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $61.24 and a one year high of $82.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.52 and its 200 day moving average is $72.89. The firm has a market cap of $250.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.37.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.505 dividend. This represents a yield of 200.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.97%.

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.