Assetmark Inc. Reduces Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Assetmark Inc. lowered its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 43.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 191,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144,280 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $37,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after acquiring an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after acquiring an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,716,000 after purchasing an additional 432,939 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 546.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,635,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431,890 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 0.3%

AZN stock opened at $168.81 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $261.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.39. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZN. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca 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.