Prospera Financial Services Inc Purchases 9,080 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 9.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 103,247 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,080 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $8,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $188,476,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 750.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,523,000 after buying an additional 1,132,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in AstraZeneca by 65.1% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,934,000 after buying an additional 950,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Erste Group Bank raised AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $63.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $60.47 and a 12-month high of $87.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.