OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys New Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 826,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,082,000. Astrazeneca comprises about 1.0% of OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp owned 0.05% of Astrazeneca at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank acquired a new position in Astrazeneca during the first quarter worth $1,202,714,000. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,157,593,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 546.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,635,812 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 552.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,603,000 after purchasing an additional 4,697,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 4,529.1% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,783,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,099,000 after buying an additional 3,702,185 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Astrazeneca currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE:AZN opened at $168.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $261.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $180.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.02. Astrazeneca Plc has a one year low of $142.98 and a one year 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 posted 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. 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%. Equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current 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.