6,094 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Purchased by Sanders Morris Harris LLC

Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 16,422,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,114,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,635 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,742,268 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Astrazeneca by 208.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,386,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,048,417,000 after purchasing an additional 7,021,126 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 8,047,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 546.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,026,000 after buying an additional 5,635,812 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of AZN traded up $6.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $162.21. 3,333,470 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,802,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $153.41 and a 52 week high of $212.71. The company has a market cap of $251.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.37.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AZN. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Nordea Equity Research raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Sunday, August 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $198.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.67.

Astrazeneca Profile

AstraZeneca PLC is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Its research, development and commercial operations focus on prescription medicines for serious and chronic diseases, with an emphasis on discovering and delivering innovative therapies rather than operating as a diversified healthcare conglomerate.

The company’s principal therapeutic areas include oncology; cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases; respiratory and immunological conditions; and rare diseases.