Veracity Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Veracity Capital LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 15.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,974 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,444,000 after buying an additional 50,750 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,979,000 after purchasing an additional 49,541 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 154,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,433,000 after purchasing an additional 15,642 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,395,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AZN. Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.2 %

AZN stock opened at $76.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $238.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.95 and its 200 day moving average is $70.68. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $60.47 and a 12-month high of $80.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $12.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.92 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.