Summit Global Investments Purchases Shares of 3,826 Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,202,714,000. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,157,593,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 552.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,603,000 after purchasing an additional 4,697,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 4,529.1% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,783,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,099,000 after purchasing an additional 3,702,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AZN opened at $169.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.13. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $142.98 and a 52-week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly 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. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. HSBC cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded 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 issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

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.