FourThought Financial Partners LLC Increases Position in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 41.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,455 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 41,785 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $10,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in AstraZeneca by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 41,200,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,879,062,000 after acquiring an additional 538,606 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in AstraZeneca by 0.9% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,298,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,488,332,000 after acquiring an additional 196,401 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after buying an additional 3,224,251 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,036,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,166 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.6%

AstraZeneca stock opened at $91.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.05. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $61.24 and a 52-week high of $91.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.75 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

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.