Wesbanco Bank Inc. Trims Stock Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 52.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,188 shares of the company’s stock after selling 65,374 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $11,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after buying an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,716,000 after purchasing an additional 432,939 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 9.4% in 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 in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN opened at $188.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $292.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.25. 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 50 day moving average is $184.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.93. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AZN. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

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.