Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Purchased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 89.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,496 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,700 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $9,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the third quarter worth $25,000. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Astrazeneca in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Astrazeneca in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 3,350.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $181.72 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $281.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.