AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Short Interest Up 12.2% in January

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) saw a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,940,000 shares, a growth of 12.2% from the January 15th total of 15,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of AstraZeneca

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 189.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 24,026,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,574,247,000 after purchasing an additional 15,722,197 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,018,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $158,018,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 220.8% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,027,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083,645 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 1.2 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $73.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $228.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca has a 52 week low of $61.77 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $68.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 13.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.36%.

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.