Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 3,629 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 47.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,209 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,629 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $2,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after buying an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after buying an additional 432,939 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,160,000 after buying an additional 2,431,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 552.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,603,000 after buying an additional 4,697,895 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $169.20 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $181.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.20. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $138.84 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 cap of $262.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.24.

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

About Astrazeneca

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.