SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC Makes New $751,000 Investment in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $751,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 898.4% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 30,125 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $182.48 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $137.23 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $283.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $189.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.85. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

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.