True North Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 4,544 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

True North Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,080,000 after purchasing an additional 258,477 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,509,000 after acquiring an additional 524,175 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,458,000 after acquiring an additional 186,010 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,758 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $68.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.28. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $87.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

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.