Bank of America Corp DE Has $3.76 Billion Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 27.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,058,327 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,298,024 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.23% of Astrazeneca worth $3,758,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after buying an additional 438,709 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,456,000 after acquiring an additional 15,375,659 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,716,000 after acquiring an additional 432,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 889.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,319,947,000 after purchasing an additional 10,742,268 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC downgraded Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. DZ Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Astrazeneca stock opened at $173.24 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.89. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $145.79 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The company has a market cap of $268.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.44 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.21 EPS for the current year.

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.