Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 49.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,644 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,524 shares during the quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $2,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 4,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Management grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 21,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,723,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Astrazeneca News

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Negative Sentiment: AstraZeneca said its Wainua drug failed to meet the main goal in a Phase III trial for a serious heart disease, a setback that hit investor confidence because the medicine had been one of the company’s more closely watched pipeline assets. Reuters article on Wainua trial failure
• Negative Sentiment: The trial failure was described as a significant valuation hit, with reports saying the stock dropped nearly 10% in London trading and erased roughly £19 billion from AstraZeneca’s market value. Proactive Investors article on valuation impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported earlier in the week that AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo were nearing a UK pricing deal for the breast cancer drug Enhertu, which could support the company’s commercial outlook if finalized. Reuters article on Enhertu pricing deal
• Neutral Sentiment: AstraZeneca also announced a new respiratory-drug licensing deal with Sino Biopharmaceutical worth up to $1.9 billion, including $200 million upfront, underscoring continued pipeline investment even as the market focuses on the trial miss. Reuters article on Sino Biopharma licensing deal

Astrazeneca Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $189.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $184.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.61. The stock has a market cap of $293.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.24.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

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.