Barings LLC Purchases New Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Barings LLC purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 143,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,788,000. Astrazeneca comprises about 0.4% of Barings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Astrazeneca in the first quarter valued at $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its position in Astrazeneca by 166.2% during the first quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 197 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:AZN opened at $169.08 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12-month low of $137.23 and a 12-month high of $212.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.47. The firm has a market cap of $262.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24.

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. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS 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.