Bank of Montreal Can Has $238.40 Million Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,605,758 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.10% of AstraZeneca worth $238,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 40.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 18,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after buying an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 65.5% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 39,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,704,000 after acquiring an additional 15,794 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the first quarter valued at $914,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 36.0% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 23,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 6,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AZN. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.2 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $66.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.19 and a 200-day moving average of $77.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.1 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.