Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:JAZZ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:JAZZ) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,707 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Jazz Pharmaceuticals were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,379,053 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $825,705,000 after acquiring an additional 29,960 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,372,177 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $307,055,000 after buying an additional 55,630 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,333,129 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $172,560,000 after buying an additional 100,349 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,299,612 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $168,222,000 after buying an additional 57,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,023,706 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $125,916,000 after buying an additional 224,865 shares in the last quarter. 89.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on JAZZ. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $131.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. HC Wainwright cut their price objective on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.08.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Jazz Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $107.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc has a twelve month low of $106.61 and a twelve month high of $146.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $118.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.94. The company has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.59.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported $4.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Jazz Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 31.27% and a net margin of 10.82%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc will post 16.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Jazz Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Philip L. Johnson acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $119.65 per share, with a total value of $1,435,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,342,063.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Philip L. Johnson acquired 12,000 shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $119.65 per share, with a total value of $1,435,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,342,063.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Patricia Carr sold 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total value of $231,623.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,668.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc identifies, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products for unmet medical needs in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Xywav for cataplexy or excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) with narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia; Xyrem to treat cataplexy or EDS with narcolepsy; Epidiolex for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, or tuberous sclerosis complex; Zepzelca to treat metastatic small cell lung cancer, or with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy; Rylaze for acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma; Enrylaze to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma; Defitelio to treat severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease; and Vyxeos for newly-diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia.