Quadrant Capital Group LLC Grows Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,222 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $6,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 14,797.3% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,322,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307,047 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2,389.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,043,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,798,000 after buying an additional 1,961,764 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 406.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,020,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,255,000 after buying an additional 1,605,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $93.32 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $289.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.34. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $61.24 and a 1-year high of $94.02.

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

About AstraZeneca

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.