First Affirmative Financial Network Raises Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,293 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter worth about $72,437,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,509,000 after acquiring an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AZN stock opened at $70.25 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.99. The stock has a market cap of $217.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

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.