Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Purchased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 89.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,496 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,700 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $9,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in Astrazeneca by 21.5% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 64,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after purchasing an additional 11,398 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Astrazeneca by 20.0% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,595,000 after purchasing an additional 181,273 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in Astrazeneca by 20.4% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,289 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Astrazeneca by 6.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 310,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,813,000 after purchasing an additional 19,020 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Astrazeneca by 6.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 242,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,581,000 after purchasing an additional 15,065 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 3.1%

Astrazeneca stock opened at $181.72 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $137.23 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The business had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZN. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

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.