Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Holdings Lowered by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,204,564 shares of the company’s stock after selling 507,493 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.27% of Astrazeneca worth $737,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 64,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,942,000 after acquiring an additional 11,398 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,089,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,595,000 after acquiring an additional 181,273 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 42,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 7,289 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 310,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,813,000 after acquiring an additional 19,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 242,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,581,000 after acquiring an additional 15,065 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $186.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $288.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.12. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The business 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

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.