Swedbank AB Decreases Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Swedbank AB trimmed its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 38.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,468,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,520,928 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $486,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 50.0% during the third quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,016,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 94.2% in the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,294,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,313,000 after acquiring an additional 627,971 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at $2,565,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 83,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,669,000 after acquiring an additional 14,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter worth about $3,598,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

NYSE AZN traded up $2.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $192.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 478,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,478,874. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $137.23 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.38. The company has a market cap of $298.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during 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, sell-side analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.