Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by NewEdge Wealth LLC

NewEdge Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 48.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,697 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,417 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $5,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 51.8% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $70,887,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $920,000. Burling Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,476,000. Finally, Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,603,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of AZN opened at $168.41 on Friday. 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 $142.98 and a 1-year high of $212.71. The stock has a market cap of $261.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.05.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AZN shares. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC lowered Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

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.