AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Stock Holdings Boosted by Martin Investment Management LLC

Martin Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 322,034 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,035 shares during the quarter. AstraZeneca makes up approximately 5.8% of Martin Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $22,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 2,389.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,043,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,764 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 45,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,182,000 after buying an additional 2,245 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,439,000 after buying an additional 3,968 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.1% in the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $84.58 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.55. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $61.24 and a 12 month high of $86.57. The company has a market cap of $262.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.80, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The firm had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS 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.