Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 400,362 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 95.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,157 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400,362 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $3,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after buying an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after buying an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 9.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,517,000 after buying an additional 582,183 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 41.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after buying an additional 1,807,565 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 13.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,707,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,342,000 after purchasing an additional 660,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $178.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $277.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.76. 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 12-month low of $137.23 and a 12-month high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. Equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.37 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.