AXQ Capital LP Makes New $601,000 Investment in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 41.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in Astrazeneca by 11,190.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,806,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790,874 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 64.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $176.28 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $273.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.25. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $190.88 and a 200-day moving average of $184.54.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current 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.