Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,513 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $27,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Astrazeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Astrazeneca in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of AZN opened at $162.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.73. The company has a market cap of $252.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $145.79 and a twelve month high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 31.45%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.67.

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.