Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC decreased its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 56.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,550 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,278 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after buying an additional 1,461,786 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after acquiring an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 2.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after purchasing an additional 432,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AZN opened at $192.77 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $184.08 and a 200-day moving average of $188.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $298.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.24. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $137.23 and a twelve month high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

About Astrazeneca

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.