Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 5,635,812 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 546.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,635,812 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.43% of Astrazeneca worth $1,315,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 11,690 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Astrazeneca by 54.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 3,618 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 898.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after buying an additional 30,125 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $168.27 on Thursday. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $182.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $260.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Equities analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Key Headlines Impacting Astrazeneca

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AstraZeneca agreed to pay up to $1.5 billion for global rights to Zegfrovy (sunvozertinib) from Dizal, adding an already marketed EGFR therapy to its oncology pipeline and expanding its presence in non-small cell lung cancer, including key markets such as the U.S. and China. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The deal includes a $600 million upfront payment and could provide a new commercial growth driver, which may help offset recent worries around AstraZeneca’s pipeline and support longer-term revenue growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports repeated the same transaction details, reinforcing the strategic importance of the licensing move but adding little new information beyond the initial announcement. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-alert stories highlighted pending investigations tied to AstraZeneca and referenced the earlier Wainua trial miss, which had pressured shares after the Phase III CARDIO-TTransform study failed its primary endpoint in ATTR cardiomyopathy. Article Title

Astrazeneca 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.