Quantum Portfolio Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Quantum Portfolio Management LLC lowered its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,150 shares during the period. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after buying an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,537,684,000 after purchasing an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after buying an additional 432,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,080,160,000 after buying an additional 2,431,890 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Astrazeneca

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Negative Sentiment: AstraZeneca said its Wainua drug failed to meet the main goal in a Phase III trial for a serious heart disease, a setback that hit investor confidence because the medicine had been one of the company’s more closely watched pipeline assets. Reuters article on Wainua trial failure
• Negative Sentiment: The trial failure was described as a significant valuation hit, with reports saying the stock dropped nearly 10% in London trading and erased roughly £19 billion from AstraZeneca’s market value. Proactive Investors article on valuation impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported earlier in the week that AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo were nearing a UK pricing deal for the breast cancer drug Enhertu, which could support the company’s commercial outlook if finalized. Reuters article on Enhertu pricing deal
• Neutral Sentiment: AstraZeneca also announced a new respiratory-drug licensing deal with Sino Biopharmaceutical worth up to $1.9 billion, including $200 million upfront, underscoring continued pipeline investment even as the market focuses on the trial miss. Reuters article on Sino Biopharma licensing deal

Astrazeneca Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $189.41 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $293.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $184.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. Astrazeneca Plc has a one year low of $137.23 and a one year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. On average, analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a 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. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Company 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.