Hendley & Co. Inc. Acquires 720 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Hendley & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,780 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $3,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Martin Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 284,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,571,000 after acquiring an additional 7,615 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth approximately $754,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 43,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after acquiring an additional 13,860 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZN shares. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $74.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $231.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.12. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $62.75 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a yield of 2%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio 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.