AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Sets New 1-Year High at $77.16

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $77.16 and last traded at $77.15, with a volume of 747740 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $68.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. AstraZeneca's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a yield of 2.3%. AstraZeneca's payout ratio is 94.61%.

Institutional Trading of AstraZeneca

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 887,230 shares of the company's stock worth $60,083,000 after purchasing an additional 45,504 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 614,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,622,000 after buying an additional 88,638 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 62,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,266,000 after buying an additional 12,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 45,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,050,000 after buying an additional 4,782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company's stock.

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.