Parallel Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Key Points

• Parallel Advisors acquired 8,718 AstraZeneca shares in the first quarter, valued at approximately $1.72 million. Institutional investors collectively own 20.35% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 12 Buy ratings, two Holds and one Sell; MarketBeat lists a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.
• AstraZeneca exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.63 in EPS versus the $2.50 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 6.4% year over year to $15.38 billion—slightly below forecasts.

Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,719,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company's stock worth $3,537,684,000 after buying an additional 445,014 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company's stock worth $3,034,456,000 after buying an additional 15,375,659 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company's stock worth $2,435,716,000 after buying an additional 432,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 889.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,319,947,000 after acquiring an additional 10,742,268 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Astrazeneca from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. HSBC lowered Astrazeneca from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $161.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.67. 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 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 fifty-two week low of $145.79 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.44 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 31.45%. Astrazeneca's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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