50,765 Shares in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Purchased by S&CO Inc.

S&CO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 50,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,832,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 93.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 45.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 11,690 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 898.4% during the second 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 during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the second 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $168.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $261.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24. Astrazeneca Plc has a one year low of $137.23 and a one year high of $212.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $182.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.43. 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 (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

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.