Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Acquired by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 4,529.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,783,927 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,702,185 shares during the quarter. Astrazeneca comprises approximately 1.2% of DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.24% of Astrazeneca worth $747,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,537,684,000 after purchasing an additional 445,014 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after purchasing an additional 432,939 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 546.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,026,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,202,714,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZN shares. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 0.1%

AZN stock opened at $168.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $261.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. 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 Plc has a one year low of $137.23 and a one year high of $212.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.44.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS 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.