TCG Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

TCG Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 31.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,963 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,110 shares during the quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $3,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 10.6% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 105,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,144,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 13,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 18.5% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 887,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,083,000 after purchasing an additional 45,504 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 11.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.35. 9,026,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,666,863. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $68.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $76.80.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

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.