Quadrant Capital Group LLC Raises Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,929 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,648 shares during the period. Astrazeneca accounts for approximately 0.5% of Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $17,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 93.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 45.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 898.4% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 30,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 1.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AZN. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Astrazeneca stock opened at $178.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $277.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $189.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.90.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The company 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.37 earnings per share 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.