J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Stock Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 7,317.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 168,752 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 166,477 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $32,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 552.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,603,000 after purchasing an additional 4,697,895 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at $675,263,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at $473,782,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 32,441.5% during the first quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 2,445,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,158,000 after buying an additional 2,437,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,080,160,000 after buying an additional 2,431,890 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Astrazeneca News

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Wainua’s Phase 3 failure removes a potential growth driver and raises concerns about AstraZeneca’s ability to expand successfully beyond oncology. Reuters: AstraZeneca-Ionis drug fails to meet main goal in late-stage heart disease trial
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say the miss has hurt management credibility and triggered a sharp market selloff, with investors reassessing the value of AstraZeneca’s pipeline. Proactive Investors: AstraZeneca’s Wainua failure hurts credibility more than valuation, Jefferies warns
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts still maintained a constructive view, with Bernstein reportedly reiterating a buy rating despite the setback, suggesting the longer-term thesis is not fully broken. Globe and Mail/Bernstein note: AstraZeneca receives a Buy from Bernstein
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern has also expanded into legal overhangs, with a pending investigation notice adding another source of pressure on the stock. PR Newswire: AstraZeneca Investigation Notice

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE AZN opened at $171.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $183.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.73. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current year.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.