Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $2.79 Million Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 purchasing an additional 1,605,758 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in AstraZeneca in the third quarter valued at about $72,437,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,407,000 after purchasing an additional 564,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $74.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $230.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.06 and a 52-week high of $87.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.49.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued 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 32.55%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. This represents a yield of 2%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio is 43.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

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.