Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Stake Trimmed by Advocate Investing Services LLC

Advocate Investing Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,550 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,550 shares during the quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AZN. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:AZN opened at $188.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $292.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $184.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.