Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by Davidson Investment Advisors

Key Points

• Davidson Investment Advisors cut its AstraZeneca stake by 5.8% in the second quarter, selling 6,665 shares and retaining 108,676 shares valued at approximately $20.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 20.35% of AstraZeneca. Several major investors, including Fisher Asset Management, Franklin Resources, Morgan Stanley and Janus Henderson, increased their positions.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with 13 Buy ratings, two Holds and one Sell, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $206.67 average price target. AstraZeneca recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, while revenue rose 6.4% year over year.

Davidson Investment Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,676 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,665 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors' holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $20,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company's stock worth $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Astrazeneca by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after purchasing an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,034,456,000 after buying an additional 15,375,659 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew 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 buying an additional 432,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 889.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company's stock worth $2,319,947,000 after buying an additional 10,742,268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Astrazeneca from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.67.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $162.83 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $171.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.73. The stock has a market cap of $252.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $145.79 and a 52-week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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