Prospector Partners LLC Buys 445 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Prospector Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,330 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $715,198,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at $143,999,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after buying an additional 2,050,064 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 118.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,592,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,951,000 after buying an additional 1,951,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 346.3% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,696,000 after buying an additional 1,102,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ AZN traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.53. 1,880,334 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,049,932. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.56. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $79.36. The firm has a market cap of $243.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.63, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.08. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $12.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.92 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Company 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.