GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $196,000 Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca in the third quarter valued at $715,198,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,064 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.2% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,553,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,295 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 346.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 317.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,136,000 after purchasing an additional 944,765 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $75.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $75.81. The firm has a market cap of $233.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.07.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.34%. The company had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.61%.

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.