New Century Financial Group LLC Acquires 2,094 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,494 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 320.8% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 543,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 101,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN stock opened at $68.60 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.28. The firm has a market cap of $212.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46.

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