AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Purchased by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 535,650 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,563 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $37,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AZN. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 149.3% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 59.8% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AstraZeneca by 376.0% in the 2nd quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $93.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.23. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $93.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $15.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.75 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.