Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Trims Stake in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 16.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,652,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 895,351 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $914,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca in the third quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AZN. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, June 26th. HSBC lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

NYSE:AZN opened at $168.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $261.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $180.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.05. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $142.98 and a fifty-two 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.

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 the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current 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.