Noesis Capital Mangement Corp Sells 1,000 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp lessened its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,009 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 60,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,633 shares during the last quarter. Henry James International Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Henry James International Management Inc. now owns 30,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 9,506 shares during the period. TCG Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 12,110 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 26,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the period. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 489,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,955,000 after purchasing an additional 80,148 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN traded up $0.55 on Friday, reaching $76.35. 9,026,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,666,863. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.36. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $76.80. The company has a market cap of $236.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.965 dividend. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a yield of 2.3%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 94.61%.

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.