Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,589 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,393 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $6,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.3% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 41,200,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,879,062,000 after acquiring an additional 538,606 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,298,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,488,332,000 after purchasing an additional 196,401 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,695,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,446,235,000 after purchasing an additional 530,520 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,046,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,734,000 after purchasing an additional 104,625 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of AZN opened at $94.96 on Wednesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $95.27. The firm has a market cap of $294.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.88.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.75 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 32.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on AZN shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.75.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led 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’s operations span research and development, large-scale manufacturing, and commercial distribution, with a presence in developed and emerging markets worldwide.

The company focuses on several core therapy areas including oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.