Argos Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 3,734 Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Argos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 acquiring an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,162,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,604,000 after acquiring an additional 466,745 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 582,183 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 1,807,565 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 660,569 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $184.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $286.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.26. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $132.32 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $193.32 and a 200-day moving average of $181.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup began coverage on Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca 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.