JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Purchases 3,655 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,047 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,655 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 12,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Veery Capital LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Veery Capital LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tiller Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Tiller Private Wealth Inc. now owns 3,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.4%

AZN stock opened at $67.57 on Monday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $61.24 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.40.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.71 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.