Blue Trust Inc. Buys 7,686 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 38.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,712 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,686 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $1,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Martin Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 284,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,571,000 after buying an additional 7,615 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter worth about $754,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 43,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after buying an additional 13,860 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.5 %

AstraZeneca stock opened at $70.08 on Tuesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The stock has a market cap of $217.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.12 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.