TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Raises Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,492 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,302 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $254,018,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter worth approximately $158,018,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 valued at $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,101,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,179,000 after buying an additional 1,222,669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.5 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $69.55 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The company has a market cap of $215.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.49. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.30.

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

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AZN. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

AstraZeneca 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.