5 Best Vaccine Stocks to Buy Now

4. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN) is a United Kingdom-based multinational biopharma firm that makes medicines for ailments related to oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism, respiratory, infection, neuroscience, and gastroenterology. The products made by the firm are sold worldwide and it uses distributors and local representatives for marketing purposes. It was founded in 1992 as Zeneca Group PLC but changed the name to AstraZeneca in 1999. The firm is placed fourth on our list of 10 best vaccine stocks to buy now. 

The company has a collaboration agreement with the Massachusetts General Hospital for the provision of digital health solutions. It also partners with Sanguina for a smartphone application focused on hemoglobin management in patients with anemia of chronic kidney disease. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, 41 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $298 million in the firm, up from 33 in the preceding quarter worth $225 million.

In their Q4 2020 investor letter, Baron Health Care Fund highlighted a few stocks and AstraZeneca Plc (NASDAQ:AZN) is one of them. Here is what Baron Health Care Fund said:

“AstraZeneca PLC is a multinational pharmaceutical company developing drugs across multiple therapeutic areas such as oncology and respiratory diseases. Shares were impacted by news of AstraZeneca’s joint development with Oxford University of a viral-based COVID-19 vaccine. Given a mixed data set due to an unforeseen error in dosing that occurred in the Brazilian market, the vaccine timelines slipped, hurting share performance. Our investment thesis on AstraZeneca is not dependent on COVID-19 but rather its best-in-class large-cap growth profile, and we retain conviction.”