Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 445,014 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 445,014 shares during the period. Astrazeneca accounts for about 0.9% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $3,537,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,517,000 after purchasing an additional 582,183 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,707,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,342,000 after purchasing an additional 660,569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AZN opened at $186.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $288.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.34.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. On average, equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings started coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy (b)” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Astrazeneca currently has an average 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.