Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires Shares of 41,404 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 41,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,713,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Boston Partners boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670,719 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter worth about $158,018,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,605,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 15,819.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,179,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,249,000 after buying an additional 1,171,612 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZN. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 1.4 %

AZN stock opened at $73.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.77. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $62.75 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.54 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its 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 return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. On average, equities analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

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

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.