Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires New Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 298,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,926,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 6.9% during the first quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.5% during the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.2% during the first quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 54,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,981,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 14.0% during the first quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 10.4% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 75,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,547,000 after buying an additional 7,101 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $70.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The stock has a market cap of $220.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.07 and its 200 day moving average is $70.35.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.14. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 33.14%. The company had revenue of $13.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.00.

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.