Procyon Advisors LLC Purchases 15,970 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 310.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,112 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,970 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 55.1% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 4,249 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 22.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,939 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 102.7% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.8% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AZN traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $67.96. 535,082 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,281,075. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.49. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $76.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.80.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.19% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 100.52%.

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.