Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Purchased by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,996 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,986 shares during the period. Astrazeneca makes up about 2.2% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $26,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 64,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after buying an additional 11,398 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,595,000 after buying an additional 181,273 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 111.6% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 66,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,113,000 after purchasing an additional 35,148 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.4% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after buying an additional 7,289 shares during the period. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 96.2% in the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 77,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,953,000 after purchasing an additional 38,043 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Barclays raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings started coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating on the stock. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $187.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $191.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.58. The stock has a market cap of $290.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.26. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Astrazeneca 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.