AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Bought by Oxbow Advisors LLC

Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 96.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 77,594 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,043 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $5,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 93.2% in the fourth 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 grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 45.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,440,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded AstraZeneca from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ AZN traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $92.95. The company had a trading volume of 4,322,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,953,656. The business has a 50 day moving average of $91.87 and a 200-day moving average of $83.50. The company has a market cap of $288.31 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.34. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $61.24 and a 1-year high of $96.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.88.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.75 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.89% and a net margin of 16.17%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led 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’s operations span research and development, large-scale manufacturing, and commercial distribution, with a presence in developed and emerging markets worldwide.

The company focuses on several core therapy areas including oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.