Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC Buys 13,350 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,651 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,350 shares during the quarter. AstraZeneca makes up approximately 1.1% of Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $7,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 10.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 191,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,156,000 after purchasing an additional 17,548 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 19.7% during the second quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 19,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 68.2% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,899,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,730,000 after purchasing an additional 770,417 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter worth $1,857,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,255,000 after buying an additional 1,605,133 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $94.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $293.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $90.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.97. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $61.24 and a 1 year high of $96.51.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $15.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.75 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 32.89%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Profile

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led 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’s operations span research and development, large-scale manufacturing, and commercial distribution, with a presence in developed and emerging markets worldwide.

The company focuses on several core therapy areas including oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.