Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 245,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,509 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $43,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 139.2% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 54,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,000 after acquiring an additional 4,684 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 932,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,676,000 after acquiring an additional 277,765 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 965,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,401,000 after acquiring an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 56,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,819 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE:AZN opened at $189.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $294.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $191.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.72. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1-year low of $137.23 and a 1-year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AZN. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.