Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 33,802 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 573,405 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,802 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $100,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,152,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,329,000 after buying an additional 84,348 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after purchasing an additional 445,014 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 331,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,158,000 after purchasing an additional 43,082 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 34,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 2,851.1% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $183.36 on Wednesday. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $137.23 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.71. The company has a market capitalization of $284.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.53 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AZN shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings started coverage on Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Company 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.