CENTRAL TRUST Co Purchases 9,598 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 111.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,185 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,598 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,177,000 after acquiring an additional 9,002,450 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,365,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $634,525,000 after purchasing an additional 29,497 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,565,000 after purchasing an additional 488,644 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,458,000 after purchasing an additional 186,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.7% during the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 2,990,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,588,000 after buying an additional 134,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 1.1 %

AZN stock opened at $75.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.40 and a 200 day moving average of $78.44. The firm has a market cap of $232.69 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca 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.