Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $4.32 Million Stock Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,490 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,398 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.4% in the third quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 10,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 4,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 30.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 199,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,537,000 after purchasing an additional 46,575 shares during the period. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth approximately $234,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank raised AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.1 %

AZN stock opened at $66.36 on Wednesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The company has a market capitalization of $205.76 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.65. 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 (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.1 earnings per share 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.