Astrazeneca Plc $AZN is Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,361 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,519 shares during the quarter. Astrazeneca makes up 2.9% of Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $16,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position 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. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after purchasing an additional 432,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,517,000 after buying an additional 582,183 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 0.0%

AZN stock opened at $174.87 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $186.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $271.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced 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 firm 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, analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AZN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.