AstraZeneca Plc $AZN Stock Purchased by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd grew its position in AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 317.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,291 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,304 shares during the period. AstraZeneca makes up 0.7% of R Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth $35,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the second quarter worth $35,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AZN. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Nordea Equity Research upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Sunday, August 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $198.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.67.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AZN opened at $184.46 on Friday. AstraZeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $153.41 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.21. The stock has a market cap of $286.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.24.

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 31.85% and a net margin of 17.68%. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Profile

AstraZeneca plc is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company discovers, develops and commercializes prescription medicines, with a focus on oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare diseases. Its research and commercial operations serve patients and healthcare systems across more than 100 countries. AstraZeneca’s portfolio includes medicines for cancer, respiratory and immune-mediated conditions, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, and rare disorders.