Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Acquires 9,897 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 178,759 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,897 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $31,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Astrazeneca by 45.3% in the 1st 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 period. Amundi raised its position in Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in Astrazeneca by 898.4% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Astrazeneca by 1.2% in the 2nd 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 period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZN. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $177.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $275.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $188.74 and its 200 day moving average is $186.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Astrazeneca Company 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.