Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,207 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,820 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $15,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AZN. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Astrazeneca by 93.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 54.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 898.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 30,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of AZN opened at $179.90 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $191.20 and a 200 day moving average of $184.28. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The firm has a market cap of $279.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

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.