May Hill Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

May Hill Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 144.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,974 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,147 shares during the quarter. May Hill Capital LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $4,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 344.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,478,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695,793 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 41.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,565 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 11,190.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,806,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,874 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 64.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,783,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Barclays raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE AZN opened at $181.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $192.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.26. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $136.16 and a 52 week high of $212.71.

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

Astrazeneca Profile

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.