Asio Capital LLC Increases Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Asio Capital LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 53,541 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,569 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $3,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 5,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 83,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,483,000 after buying an additional 22,983 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 7,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at $362,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $69.06 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a market capitalization of $214.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 EPS 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 company had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AstraZeneca Company 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.