NWF Advisory Services Inc. Sells 3,535 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

NWF Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,535 shares during the quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 552.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,603,000 after acquiring an additional 4,697,895 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca in the first quarter worth $675,263,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca in the first quarter worth $473,782,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 32,441.5% during the first quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 2,445,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,080,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431,890 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:AZN opened at $164.55 on Wednesday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $137.23 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.58. The firm has a market cap of $255.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Key Astrazeneca News

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Negative Sentiment: AstraZeneca is facing investor-law-firm investigations after the Wainua trial miss and the related stock drop, adding headline risk and potential litigation over alleged securities claims. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC downgraded AstraZeneca and lowered its price target after the Wainua setback, saying the failure removes a central support for the company’s bullish outlook and leaves a tougher catalyst path ahead. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A second investor alert from Levi & Korsinsky highlighted the Wainua phase 3 miss and encouraged shareholders to seek recovery of losses, reinforcing the negative sentiment around the trial failure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS remained constructive ahead of AstraZeneca’s second-quarter results, saying it expects solid earnings but limited room for full-year guidance increases. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: AstraZeneca also announced an exclusive global licensing deal for a lung-cancer pill from China’s Dizal Pharmaceutical, paying $600 million upfront with up to $900 million in milestones. The deal could strengthen its oncology pipeline and supports longer-term growth. Article Title

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.