TIAA Trust National Association Has $14.73 Million Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

TIAA Trust National Association lowered its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,701 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,621 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association's holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $14,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the third 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 during the period. 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 worth $1,553,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,295 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter worth about $715,198,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,222,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $693,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 22.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,466,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $495,328,000 after buying an additional 1,343,939 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AstraZeneca Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AZN stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,396,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,253,206. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $76.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.80. The company has a market cap of $207.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.19% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.965 per share. This is a boost from AstraZeneca's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.52%.

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.