Valley National Advisers Inc. Increases Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,470 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 508 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,080,000 after acquiring an additional 258,477 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 524,175 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,605,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $70.76 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $60.47 and a 12-month high of $87.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

About AstraZeneca

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.