Principal Street Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Principal Street Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 50.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,914 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,220 shares during the quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC's holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 189.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 24,026,966 shares of the company's stock worth $1,574,247,000 after buying an additional 15,722,197 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at about $254,018,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 9,985.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,707,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670,719 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth about $158,018,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 220.8% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,027,511 shares of the company's stock worth $198,363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AZN. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $69.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $70.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.43. The stock has a market cap of $216.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.40.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.14. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 32.23%. The business had revenue of $13.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca 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.

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