Global Retirement Partners LLC Has $9.85 Million Stock Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 121.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,118 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,770 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $9,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Astrazeneca by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,162,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,604,000 after acquiring an additional 466,745 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Astrazeneca by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,517,000 after acquiring an additional 582,183 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Astrazeneca by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,565 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Astrazeneca by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,707,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,342,000 after acquiring an additional 660,569 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings began coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $187.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $191.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.58. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1-year low of $137.23 and a 1-year high of $212.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astrazeneca Company 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.