Legal & General Group Plc Has $52.97 Million Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 808,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100,629 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $52,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 17,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter worth about $946,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,822,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 231.3% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $66.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.88. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $61.24 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.58 billion, a PE ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.49.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

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.