LPL Financial LLC Has $202.33 Million Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,152,872 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,348 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $202,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461,786 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after acquiring an additional 438,709 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,537,684,000 after acquiring an additional 445,014 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 9.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,517,000 after acquiring an additional 582,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after buying an additional 1,807,565 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $183.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $190.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.71. Astrazeneca Plc has a one year low of $137.23 and a one year high of $212.71. The firm has a market cap of $284.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released 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 for 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 forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.53 EPS for the current year.

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.