Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $737.90 Million Stake in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,204,564 shares of the company’s stock after selling 507,493 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $737,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,786 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,805,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,517,000 after purchasing an additional 582,183 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,565 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,707,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,342,000 after purchasing an additional 660,569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $186.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $190.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $137.23 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $288.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AZN. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings began coverage on Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.