Hilltop Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 9,368 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,368 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at $588,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at $3,501,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 349.0% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 59,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,665,000 after acquiring an additional 46,537 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at $72,437,000. Finally, Morton Community Bank grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.1% during the third quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 39,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,110,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.1 %

AZN traded up $0.75 on Thursday, reaching $67.53. 5,270,071 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,305,602. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.17. The company has a market cap of $209.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AZN shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.75.

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.