Blueshift Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Martin Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 284,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,571,000 after purchasing an additional 7,615 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 46.6% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 43,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after acquiring an additional 13,860 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in AstraZeneca by 8.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 224,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,510,000 after acquiring an additional 16,692 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 124.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 98,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,657,000 after purchasing an additional 54,488 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $67.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $208.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.47. 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 PLC has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.50.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

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.