Temasek Holdings Private Ltd Takes $70.89 Million Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Temasek Holdings Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 365,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,887,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth $920,000. Burling Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at $2,476,000. Andra AP fonden acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at $46,603,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at about $229,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at about $755,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AZN shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $169.20 on Wednesday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12-month low of $138.84 and a 12-month high of $212.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.50 and its 200-day moving average is $188.20.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Astrazeneca Company 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.