Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $981,000 Investment in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 14,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,670,719 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at $158,018,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,101,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,179,000 after buying an additional 1,222,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,171,612 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AstraZeneca Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $66.29 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.83. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.24 and a 52-week high of $87.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 EPS 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 91.15%.

About AstraZeneca

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.