Westover Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,524 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 546.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,026,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,812 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 552.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,603,000 after buying an additional 4,697,895 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA purchased a new position in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $675,263,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at about $473,782,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 32,441.5% during the 1st quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 2,445,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,158,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437,657 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $168.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $260.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.71 and a 200-day moving average of $188.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1-year low of $137.23 and a 1-year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $15.29 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AstraZeneca agreed to pay up to $1.5 billion for global rights to Zegfrovy (sunvozertinib) from Dizal, adding an already marketed EGFR therapy to its oncology pipeline and expanding its presence in non-small cell lung cancer, including key markets such as the U.S. and China. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The deal includes a $600 million upfront payment and could provide a new commercial growth driver, which may help offset recent worries around AstraZeneca’s pipeline and support longer-term revenue growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports repeated the same transaction details, reinforcing the strategic importance of the licensing move but adding little new information beyond the initial announcement. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-alert stories highlighted pending investigations tied to AstraZeneca and referenced the earlier Wainua trial miss, which had pressured shares after the Phase III CARDIO-TTransform study failed its primary endpoint in ATTR cardiomyopathy. Article Title

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.