Chicago Capital LLC Makes New $1.64 Million Investment in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,638,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,492,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,351,653,000 after acquiring an additional 358,399 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,553,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,295 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at about $715,198,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,222,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $693,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $495,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZN traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $67.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,113,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,283,159. The business's 50 day moving average price is $65.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.80. The company has a market cap of $208.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $76.56.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 30.19%. The business's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.965 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from AstraZeneca's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. AstraZeneca's payout ratio is presently 100.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut AstraZeneca from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. HSBC assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Monday, December 18th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.00.

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.