Gradient Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Key Points

• Gradient Investments acquired 108,133 AstraZeneca shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $20.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 20.35% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with 12 Buy ratings, two Holds and one Sell; AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $211.
• AstraZeneca beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $2.63 versus the $2.50 consensus, while revenue rose 6.4% year over year to $15.38 billion, slightly below estimates.

Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 108,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,503,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pursuit Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $636,000. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 83,539 shares of the company's stock worth $7,680,000 after buying an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 335,387 shares of the company's stock worth $30,832,000 after acquiring an additional 25,004 shares during the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 276,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,386,000 after acquiring an additional 5,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at $1,221,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AZN. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. HSBC lowered Astrazeneca from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Astrazeneca from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 0.1%

AZN opened at $161.28 on Friday. 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. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $145.79 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $176.34 and a 200 day moving average of $187.11.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.44 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 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.

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