Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Makes New $362,000 Investment in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 122.4% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 112.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 7,241 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 6.8% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 39.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 206,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,104,000 after buying an additional 58,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 307,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,017,000 after buying an additional 26,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.7 %

AZN opened at $69.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.93. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.04, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

About AstraZeneca

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.