Hendley & Co. Inc. Buys 720 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Hendley & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,780 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $3,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,080,000 after acquiring an additional 258,477 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,430,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,037,000 after acquiring an additional 466,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,509,000 after purchasing an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $74.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $231.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.12. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $62.75 and a fifty-two 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.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. On average, analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

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.