Rockport Wealth LLC Purchases New Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122,965 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $143,999,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC grew its position in AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,064 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in AstraZeneca by 118.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,592,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its position in AstraZeneca by 346.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,825,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,291,210. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $245.47 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $80.86.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $12.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 13.30%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.00.

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.