WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 35,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,297,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Astrazeneca by 93.2% during the fourth 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 grew its position in Astrazeneca by 45.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after buying an additional 11,690 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Astrazeneca by 54.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 3,618 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 898.4% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 30,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 0.7%

AZN stock opened at $176.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.39 billion, a PE ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.25. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $137.23 and a 12 month high of $212.71. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.