Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by Act Two Investors LLC

Act Two Investors LLC cut its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 351,775 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,291 shares during the quarter. Astrazeneca makes up approximately 10.5% of Act Two Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Act Two Investors LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $61,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Astrazeneca in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 3,350.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 345 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $185.50 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $191.27 and its 200-day moving average is $183.97. The stock has a market cap of $287.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.26. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current 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.