Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Stake in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,400,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AZN. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,162,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,604,000 after purchasing an additional 466,745 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,517,000 after purchasing an additional 582,183 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,707,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,342,000 after purchasing an additional 660,569 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 0.8%

AZN stock opened at $185.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71. The firm has a market cap of $288.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.26.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.