Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Stake Lowered by Parnassus Investments LLC

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,237,719 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,285 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $217,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

NYSE AZN opened at $182.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.85. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced 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. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.