Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 5,800 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management decreased its position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 60.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,800 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signet Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter worth about $2,565,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 83,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,669,000 after purchasing an additional 14,576 shares during the period. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,598,000. QP Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter worth approximately $810,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 223.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 20,635 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. DZ Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $169.08 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $182.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24. 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 current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share 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.