Carnegie Investment Counsel Sells 6,035 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel cut its AstraZeneca stake by 46.7% in the first quarter, selling 6,035 shares and leaving it with 6,895 shares worth about $1.36 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive: AstraZeneca has 13 Buy ratings, one Hold, and one Sell, with an average Moderate Buy rating and a $211.00 target price.
• The stock recently traded down 1.1% to $169.79, while the company’s latest earnings beat estimates with $2.58 EPS on $15.29 billion in revenue, and news flow included a new lung-cancer drug licensing deal alongside a setback from the Wainua Phase 3 failure.

Carnegie Investment Counsel lessened its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,895 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,035 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $1,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Astrazeneca in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 304 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Astrazeneca from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Astrazeneca from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:AZN opened at $169.79 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $183.38 and its 200 day moving average is $188.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Astrazeneca

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AstraZeneca struck an exclusive global license deal for the lung-cancer drug Zegfrovy, a move that could strengthen its oncology pipeline and long-term growth prospects. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: UBS reiterated a Buy rating ahead of second-quarter results, saying AstraZeneca should deliver solid earnings and revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts from both the U.S. and U.K. cited a mixed setup, with some optimism on near-term results but limited scope for AstraZeneca to raise full-year guidance. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC downgraded AstraZeneca to Hold and cut its price target after the Wainua Phase 3 failure, saying the setback weakens the stock’s bull case. Article Title

About Astrazeneca

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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