Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by Boston Common Asset Management LLC

Boston Common Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,960 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,464 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $8,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank purchased a new position in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter valued at $1,202,714,000. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter worth $1,157,593,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 546.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,026,000 after buying an additional 5,635,812 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 552.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,603,000 after buying an additional 4,697,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 4,529.1% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,783,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,099,000 after buying an additional 3,702,185 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE AZN opened at $168.81 on Monday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.44. The firm has a market cap of $261.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. HSBC downgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

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.