OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Makes New Investment in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 826,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,082,000. Astrazeneca accounts for approximately 1.0% of OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after buying an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,537,684,000 after acquiring an additional 445,014 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,716,000 after acquiring an additional 432,939 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 546.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,026,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at $1,202,714,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

NYSE:AZN opened at $168.68 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $142.98 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Profile

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.