SouthState Corp Sells 1,988 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

SouthState Corp cut its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,759 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,988 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,080,000 after acquiring an additional 258,477 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted 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 worth $1,011,037,000 after acquiring an additional 466,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,959,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,090,000 after buying an additional 479,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.7% in 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 in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZN shares. UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ AZN opened at $77.60 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.27. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $62.75 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $240.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.41.

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

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

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.