Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 14,768 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 459,560 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,768 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $30,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,605,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter worth about $72,437,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,509,000 after buying an additional 524,175 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 1.2 %

AZN stock opened at $73.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.49. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.77 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $228.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 13.01%. On average, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 43.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

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.