Motco Sells 422 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Motco reduced its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,062 shares of the company’s stock after selling 422 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter valued at $3,066,000. Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca in the second quarter valued at about $1,857,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 6.0% in the second quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 78,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,472,000 after buying an additional 4,449 shares in the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the second quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 21.2% in the second quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 226,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,804,000 after acquiring an additional 39,488 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $97.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of AZN opened at $82.61 on Wednesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $61.24 and a 52 week high of $86.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.03 and a 200-day moving average of $74.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.