Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stake in AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 624,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,065 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $43,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in AstraZeneca by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 23.1% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 883,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,906,000 after buying an additional 165,899 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 28.7% during the first quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 4,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 36,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $93.32 on Thursday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $61.24 and a 1-year high of $94.02. The company has a market capitalization of $289.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.89 and a 200-day moving average of $77.35.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.75 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.