Portside Wealth Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,588 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AZN. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 189.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 24,026,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,574,247,000 after buying an additional 15,722,197 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at $254,018,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at $158,018,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 220.8% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,027,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083,645 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AZN opened at $73.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.83. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.71 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

AstraZeneca 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.