Crumly & Associates Inc. Buys New Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Crumly & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 5,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 11,690 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 3,618 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 898.4% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 30,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AZN. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC downgraded Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

AZN 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $176.34 and its 200-day moving average is $187.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.12 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.26. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $145.79 and a 1 year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Astrazeneca

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.