How AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (AZN) Stacks Up Against Its Peers

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Viking Global, managed by Andreas Halvorsen, assembled the largest position in AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN). Viking Global had $137.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management also initiated a $19.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AZN investors: James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Hal Mintz’s Sabby Capital.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN). We will take a look at Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP), Westpac Banking Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:WBK), and Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble AZN’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 38.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2298 million. That figure was $669 million in AZN’s case. Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Westpac Banking Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:WBK) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard UNP might be a better candidate to consider a long position.