Addison Advisors LLC Purchases 266 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 996 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $67,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 375.6% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AZN stock traded up $0.14 on Friday, reaching $75.17. 6,687,969 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,718,667. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $75.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.06 billion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.06.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 30.34% and a net margin of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.965 per share. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.