Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Purchased by Mmbg Investment Advisors CO.

Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 82.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,379 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,860 shares during the period. Mmbg Investment Advisors CO.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $4,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,517,000 after purchasing an additional 582,183 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,707,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,342,000 after purchasing an additional 660,569 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $187.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $191.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.22. The firm has a market cap of $290.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.26.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The company had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AZN shares. Barclays upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup started coverage on Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings began coverage on Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

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.