Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 4,771 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,060 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,771 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $9,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 64,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after buying an additional 11,398 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,595,000 after purchasing an additional 181,273 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 310,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,813,000 after purchasing an additional 19,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 242,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,581,000 after purchasing an additional 15,065 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 2.3%

AZN stock opened at $186.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.12. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. 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 $288.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AZN shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

About Astrazeneca

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.