Mariner LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 690,319 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,800 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $121,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,595,000 after purchasing an additional 181,273 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in Astrazeneca by 20.4% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Astrazeneca by 6.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 242,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,581,000 after purchasing an additional 15,065 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Astrazeneca by 14.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,100,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,142,000 after purchasing an additional 262,465 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 8.4% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 79,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,136,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of AZN opened at $177.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.10. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1-year low of $137.23 and a 1-year high of $212.71. The stock has a market cap of $275.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Equities analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal 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.