Gradient Investments LLC Purchases New Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 108,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,503,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,456,000 after buying an additional 15,375,659 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 889.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,319,947,000 after acquiring an additional 10,742,268 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 106,772.0% during the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 8,054,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,419,000 after acquiring an additional 8,047,406 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 208.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,386,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,417,000 after acquiring an additional 7,021,126 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at $1,202,714,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AZN opened at $161.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.11. Astrazeneca Plc has a one year low of $145.79 and a one year high of $212.71. The firm has a market cap of $250.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.44 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on AZN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, June 26th. HSBC cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

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.