Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. Boosts Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,836 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 685 shares during the quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AZN. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 109.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,605,758 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,715 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $72,437,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,407,000 after acquiring an additional 564,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,509,000 after purchasing an additional 524,175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.6 %

AZN stock opened at $74.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $231.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.12. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $62.75 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a yield of 2%. This is an increase from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is presently 91.15%.

About AstraZeneca

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.