Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Raises Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 44.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,437 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,679,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 85,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,578,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $72.88 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.05. The stock has a market cap of $226.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $61.24 and a 1-year high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $13.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.71 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca 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.