Boston Partners Trims Stake in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Boston Partners reduced its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,229,792 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,017,657 shares during the period. Astrazeneca makes up 0.8% of Boston Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Boston Partners’ holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $742,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after purchasing an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,517,000 after buying an additional 582,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,232,000 after buying an additional 1,807,565 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AZN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of AZN opened at $178.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $277.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. On average, analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astrazeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.