Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 4,117 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 87.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,840 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,117 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AZN. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 320.8% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 22.9% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 543,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 101,225 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in AstraZeneca by 2,618.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZN opened at $68.20 on Thursday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $60.47 and a 12-month high of $87.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.20 and a 200-day moving average of $74.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $211.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

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.