Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by Arax Advisory Partners

Arax Advisory Partners lowered its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,037 shares during the quarter. Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 45.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,690 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 898.4% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 30,125 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Astrazeneca by 1.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

AZN opened at $178.79 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $189.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.07. The company has a market cap of $277.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.25.

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 the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZN shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca 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.