Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 1,276,181 Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,276,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,970,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.08% of Astrazeneca at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 64,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after purchasing an additional 11,398 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,595,000 after purchasing an additional 181,273 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 310,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,813,000 after purchasing an additional 19,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 242,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,581,000 after purchasing an additional 15,065 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $177.34 on Wednesday. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $137.23 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. On average, analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Astrazeneca

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.