Rehmann Capital Advisory Group Grows Stake in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,283 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $1,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,456,000 after buying an additional 15,375,659 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 889.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,319,947,000 after buying an additional 10,742,268 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 106,772.0% in the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 8,054,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,419,000 after buying an additional 8,047,406 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 208.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,386,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,417,000 after acquiring an additional 7,021,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,202,714,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AZN shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. HSBC lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.67.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $162.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $251.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $170.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.42. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $145.79 and a twelve month high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.44 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Astrazeneca

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.