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AstraZeneca chief piles in

Pascal Soriot has piled £3m of his own money into AstraZeneca's future growth prospects.
September 3, 2015

AstraZeneca (AZN) chief executive Pascal Soriot has poured £3m of his own money into the group, buying an additional 76,300 shares in the pharma giant. The transaction takes Mr Soriot's holding to 0.023 per cent, and acts as a vote of confidence in AstraZeneca's ability to return to growth in the next few years.

IC TIP: Hold at 4,051p

The Anglo-Swedish behemoth just signed a new agreement with Canada's Valeant to develop and sell a new psoriasis drug - brodalumab. Astra suffered a blow in May when its previous partner, California-based pharma company Amgen, pulled out of the same deal over concerns that some patients who used the drug suffered from suicidal thoughts. Under the new deal, Valeant will bear the brunt of most of the development costs. Once the product is approved and on the market, the two groups will share profits.

Buys       
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
1pm *Helen Walker (fd)26 Aug 1516,6676010,00087,6870.167
1pm *Ron Russell26 Aug 151,666,667601,000,0009,065,35117.256
1pm *Ian Smith (ch)26 Aug 1541,6676025,00041,6670.079
Aberdeen Asian Income Fund DAH Baxter24 Aug 1520,000146.529,30050,7140.026
AstraZeneca Pascal Soriot (ce)25 Aug 1576,3003,9603,021,480292,0660.023
Auctus Growth Malcolm Burne (ch)25 Aug 1510,00048.754,875283,33310.616
Auctus Growth *Malcolm Burne (ch)25 Aug 1573,3335036,667273,33310.241
Auctus Growth *Nathan Steinberg25 Aug 1524,0005012,00049,0001.836
Bowleven John Martin26 Aug 15173,91323.2540,435173,9130.054
BP †Admiral FL Bowman25 Aug 151,800331.5785,96818,120<0.001
BP †Admiral FL Bowman25 Aug 152,982331.5259,88621,102<0.001
Capital Gearing Trust Jean Matterson25 Aug 153,0003,25997,7703,0000.102
Centrica Ian Meakins25 Aug 15935245.152,29218,188<0.001
Centrica Margherita Della Valle25 Aug 15727245.151,78221,092<0.001
EnQuest ΩDr. James Buckee (ch)21 Aug 15200,0002652,0003,936,9490.490
EP Global Opportunities ΩDavid Hough21 Aug 156,000237.3514,24179,0000.160
F&C Capital & Income T Scholefield24 Aug 152,000250.755,0154,0000.004
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust ♥NA Collins24 Aug 151,8575359,93548,8420.041
Gear4music (Holdings) Gareth Bevan25 Aug 1513,920142.519,836134,3820.667
Glencore John Mack20 Aug 1550,000162.981,450200,0000.002
Greene King Kirk Davis (cfo)24 Aug 154,00082132,8404,0000.001
Gresham Computing ♥MME Royde21 Aug 1577,5009875,9506,167,1649.753
Gresham Computing ♥MME Royde24 Aug 1540,0009839,2006,207,1649.816
Henderson Far East Income David Staples24 Aug 155,000247.512,37521,0000.019
Henderson Far East Income John Russell (ch)24 Aug 1510,00024824,80060,3060.054
Henderson Global Trust Victoria Hastings25 Aug 154,226352.8714,9127,2260.019
Homeserve JM Barry Gibson (ch)25 Aug 1510,00040640,600126,0700.041
iEnergizer *Anil Aggarwal21 Aug 1522,000,00851,100,000157,196,15282.678
International Biotechnology Trust ♥Dr Veronique Bouchet26 Aug 152,500493.512,3387,5000.019
JPMorgan American Dr. K Carter25 Aug 1512,000247.5429,70524,0000.009
Kainos ♥ Andy Malpass21 Aug 155,0001909,50027,5900.023
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Mary Ricks24 Aug 1520,0001,169.7233,940100,9160.075
Kingspan  Bruce McLennan25 Aug 1510,0002,175217,50010,0000.006
Marks & Spencer  Robert Swannell (ch)25 Aug 1520,000501100,200140,0000.009
Meggitt Douglas Webb (cfo)20 Aug 1520,000484.5596,91047,7480.006
Menzies (John) Paula Bell (fd)21 Aug 155,00045022,50017,5190.029
Menzies (John) Jeremy Stafford (ce)20 Aug 155,000433.821,69019,9200.032
Menzies (John) ♥David Garman20 Aug 1510,00043643,60010,0000.016
Mid Wynd International Richard Burns (ch)25 Aug 1535,000318.25111,388882,5003.492
Phaunos Timber Fund Jane Lewis25 Aug 1522,694357,94322,6940.004
Rightmove Colin Kemp25 Aug 151,0003,537.3835,3742,0000.002
Sage Group (The) Stephen Kelly (ce)26 Aug 1520,000496.599,300212,3460.020
Schroder UK Growth Fund AH Clifton (ch)25 Aug 154,0001516,04046,0000.029
Schroder UK Growth Fund ♥AH Clifton (ch)25 Aug 154,0001516,04050,0000.031
SIG Andrea Abt25 Aug 158,500183.7415,6188,5000.001
Smith & Nephew †Vinita Bali26 Aug 152,4001,090.626,1744,9860.001
Spirax-Sarco Engineering Nicholas Anderson (ce)25 Aug 151,0003,117.7331,1776,6590.009
Spirax-Sarco Engineering Dr. Trudy Schoolenberg26 Aug 159273,08528,5981,8540.003
SSE Crawford Gillies26 Aug 155,0001,428.8571,4435,0000.001
Tate & Lyle Sir Peter Gershon (ch)25 Aug 1510,00051051,000137,3990.029
Templeton Emerging MarketsPVFS Manduca24 Aug 155,000384.31519,2165,0000.002
ULS Technology Geoff Wicks24 Aug 1530,0005015,00030,0000.046
Unilever †Ann Fudge25 Aug 151,0502,535.2226,6205,000<0.001
Utilitywise Paul Hailes25 Aug 1511,667158.2818,46645,0010.059
Witan PacificSusan Platts-Martin26 Aug 152,348212.884,9986,3480.010
Witan Pacific Susan Platts-Martin26 Aug 152,652211.755,6169,0000.014
Sells       
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
Afarak GroupDr. Alastair Ruiters (ce)20 Aug 1518,21136.176,586400,0000.155
Dixons Carphone Graham Stapleton24 Aug 1554,830408.40223,926490,0340.043
Dixons Carphone Graham Stapleton21 Aug 15170,110433.79737,912544,8640.047
Dixons Carphone Katie Bickerstaffe24 Aug 1535,170408.40143,635407,5900.035
Dixons Carphone Katie Bickerstaffe21 Aug 15109,034433.79472,973442,7600.038
*Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party ΩIsa/Sipp/Trust †Depositary receipts