First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC $JAZZ

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ:JAZZ) by 108.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,302 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,402 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Jazz Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JAZZ. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Jazz Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $51,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 297 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 89.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jazz Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Heather Ann Mcsharry sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total value of $482,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,449 shares in the company, valued at $4,446,209. This represents a 9.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce C. Cozadd sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.47, for a total value of $1,442,820.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 366,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,176,020.54. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,131,906. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on JAZZ shares. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $239.00 target price on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.06.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $255.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $238.62 and a 200 day moving average of $205.35. The firm has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12,792.10, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.32. Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC has a 1 year low of $105.00 and a 1 year high of $261.30.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported $6.34 EPS for the quarter. Jazz Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC will post 21.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Profile

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies in neuroscience and oncology. The company’s research and development efforts target unmet medical needs in sleep disorders, hematologic malignancies, rare neurological conditions and solid tumors. Jazz’s product portfolio includes therapies for narcolepsy, hepatic veno-occlusive disease, acute myeloid leukemia and other serious disorders.

Flagship products from Jazz Pharmaceuticals include Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) and Xywav® (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium oxybates) for the treatment of cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness in patients with narcolepsy.