Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 56.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 487,032 shares of the company’s stock after selling 638,220 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $96,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Signet Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,565,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 83,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,669,000 after acquiring an additional 14,576 shares during the period. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,598,000. QP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $810,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 223.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,752,000 after acquiring an additional 20,635 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Astrazeneca

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AstraZeneca agreed to pay up to $1.5 billion for global rights to Zegfrovy (sunvozertinib) from Dizal, adding an already marketed EGFR therapy to its oncology pipeline and expanding its presence in non-small cell lung cancer, including key markets such as the U.S. and China. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The deal includes a $600 million upfront payment and could provide a new commercial growth driver, which may help offset recent worries around AstraZeneca’s pipeline and support longer-term revenue growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports repeated the same transaction details, reinforcing the strategic importance of the licensing move but adding little new information beyond the initial announcement. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-alert stories highlighted pending investigations tied to AstraZeneca and referenced the earlier Wainua trial miss, which had pressured shares after the Phase III CARDIO-TTransform study failed its primary endpoint in ATTR cardiomyopathy. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. HSBC cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Astrazeneca stock opened at $168.27 on Thursday. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $260.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $182.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results 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, equities research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 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.