Abacus Wealth Partners LLC Takes $2.22 Million Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 12,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Astrazeneca by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

AZN stock opened at $181.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $192.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.04. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1-year low of $136.16 and a 1-year high of $212.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $281.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.26.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.