Capital International Investors Has $2.55 Billion Stock Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Capital International Investors trimmed its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZNFree Report) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,521,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,531,442 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $2,548,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 344.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,478,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695,793 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 41.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 11,190.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,806,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,874 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 64.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,783,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,662 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Astrazeneca

Astrazeneca Price Performance

AZN opened at $186.06 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.12. The firm has a market cap of $288.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZNGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Astrazeneca Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)

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