Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 296,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 139,058 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $51,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $185.50 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1-year low of $137.23 and a 1-year high of $212.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $191.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $287.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.26.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AZN. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. DZ Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

About Astrazeneca

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.