Vontobel Holding Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 439,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,603,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi grew its position in Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% during 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 during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 889.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,319,947,000 after acquiring an additional 10,742,268 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,560,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047,406 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,021,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank acquired a new position in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter worth about $1,202,714,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Astrazeneca News

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership expands pipeline potential: AstraZeneca agreed to collaborate with insitro on machine-learning-based drug discovery for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and cardiomyopathies. The deal could be worth up to $1.5 billion, including upfront and milestone payments plus royalties, giving AstraZeneca access to new potential therapies while spreading early-stage research risk. AstraZeneca Enters AI Drug Discovery Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: RBC Capital Markets reiterated its “outperform” rating and 14,500-pence target, forecasting third-quarter revenue and core EPS modestly above consensus ahead of AstraZeneca’s October 30 results. Citi also raised its target to £186. RBC Keeps AstraZeneca at Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Potentially attractive valuation: A market commentary highlighted that AZN has declined more than 8% this year even though operating performance has remained relatively resilient. The article points to a forward price-to-earnings multiple of about 14.6 times as a possible long-term buying opportunity. AstraZeneca Valuation Commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity surged: Investors purchased 49,737 call options, more than 14 times typical volume. This may signal bullish positioning, but options activity alone does not establish a fundamental change in the company’s outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst signal: Zacks Research upgraded AstraZeneca from “strong sell” to “hold,” indicating reduced pessimism but not a bullish recommendation. AZN is also being monitored for breast-cancer sales growth, expanded approvals and clinical milestones.
• Negative Sentiment: Underperformance remains an overhang: AstraZeneca continues to lag the broader market, and investors may be waiting for upcoming earnings and the AVANZAR lung-cancer trial before assigning greater value to its pipeline.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN traded down $1.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $165.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,457,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,787,129. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $153.41 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZN. Zacks Research upgraded Astrazeneca from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nordea Equity Research upgraded Astrazeneca from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Astrazeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.67.

Astrazeneca Profile

AstraZeneca PLC is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Its research, development and commercial operations focus on prescription medicines for serious and chronic diseases, with an emphasis on discovering and delivering innovative therapies rather than operating as a diversified healthcare conglomerate.

The company’s principal therapeutic areas include oncology; cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases; respiratory and immunological conditions; and rare diseases.