Castle Hook Partners LP Takes $1.45 Million Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,445,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,595,000 after buying an additional 181,273 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 242,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,581,000 after buying an additional 15,065 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 14.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,100,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,142,000 after purchasing an additional 262,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 8.4% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 79,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,136,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $178.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $276.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.25. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12-month low of $137.23 and a 12-month high of $212.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.81 and its 200 day moving average is $186.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 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.