Blair William & Co. IL Has $14.93 Million Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,915 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,532 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $14,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company's stock worth $243,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670,719 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter worth approximately $158,018,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 15,819.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,179,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,612 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the third quarter worth $72,437,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ AZN traded down $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $72.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,677,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,101,283. The firm has a market cap of $224.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $62.75 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.53.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from AstraZeneca's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. AstraZeneca's payout ratio is currently 91.15%.

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.