Parallel Advisors LLC Invests $1.72 Million in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 45.3% in the first 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 period. Amundi lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the second 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 period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 898.4% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after buying an additional 30,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AZN. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $161.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $250.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $176.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.11. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $145.79 and a 1 year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.17 EPS. Astrazeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 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.