Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 8,562 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 1,166.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,296 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,562 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AZN. BNP Paribas started coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $70.87 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.24 and a 52-week high of $87.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.39 and a 200 day moving average of $69.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.40.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.14. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Profile

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.