R Squared Ltd Buys New Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 112.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 7,241 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 39.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 206,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,104,000 after acquiring an additional 58,039 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 13.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after acquiring an additional 5,779 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 86,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 250,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,074 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AZN. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN stock opened at $71.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.99. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $13.57 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

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.