13,385 Shares in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Bought by A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 13,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 750.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,523,000 after buying an additional 1,132,362 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 65.1% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,934,000 after purchasing an additional 950,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $72,437,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.9 %

AZN stock traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,141,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,698,457. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.20 and a 200 day moving average of $75.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The company has a market capitalization of $208.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.