United Services Automobile Association reduced its stake in shares of AstraZeneca plc (NYSE:AZN) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,592 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 525.9% in the 4th quarter. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. now owns 357,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,838,000 after buying an additional 300,611 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 65,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,280,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the period. Allred Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,246,000. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 1,515.0% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the period. 17.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Several analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. Leerink Swann started coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Liberum Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded AstraZeneca from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Cowen restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.35.
AZN stock opened at $50.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.92. AstraZeneca plc has a 52-week low of $35.30 and a 52-week high of $51.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.60.
AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 38.63% and a net margin of 8.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AstraZeneca plc will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
AstraZeneca Company Profile
AstraZeneca PLC discovers, develops, and commercializes prescription medicines in the areas of oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism, respiratory, autoimmunity, infection, neuroscience, and gastroenterology worldwide. Its marketed products include Arimidex, Casodex/Cosudex, Calquence, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Lynparza, Nolvadex, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology diseases; Atacand1/Atacand HCT/Atacand Plus, Brilinta/Brilique, Crestor, Plendil, Seloken/Toprol-XL, Tenormin, and Zestril for cardiovascular diseases; and Bydureon, Byetta, Farxiga/Forxiga, Kombiglyze XR, Komboglyze, Onglyza, Qtern, Symlin, Xigduo, and Xigduo XR for metabolic diseases.
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