Capital Research Global Investors Has $72.93 Million Stock Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Capital Research Global Investors cut its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 415,561 shares of the company’s stock after selling 369,698 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $72,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 54.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 898.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 30,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Astrazeneca stock opened at $181.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $190.70 and a 200-day moving average of $185.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

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.