Swiss National Bank Takes $1.20 Billion Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 6,174,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,714,000. Astrazeneca comprises approximately 0.7% of Swiss National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signet Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at $2,565,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its position in Astrazeneca by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 83,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,669,000 after buying an additional 14,576 shares during the last quarter. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors bought a new position in Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,598,000. QP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter valued at about $810,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 223.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after acquiring an additional 20,635 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AZN. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE AZN opened at $168.81 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $182.16 and its 200 day moving average is $188.43. 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 capitalization of $261.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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.