Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.40 Million in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 7,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,400,000.

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

Astrazeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $185.79 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.49. 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 stock has a market cap of $288.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.26. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AZN. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings began coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy (b)” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Astrazeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

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.