Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 275,118 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $18,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 49,492,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,351,653,000 after buying an additional 358,399 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,295 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $715,198,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,242,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,294,000 after purchasing an additional 201,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,274,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,778,000 after purchasing an additional 48,524 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $77.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.58. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $77.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.63 billion, a PE ratio of 38.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.