Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,493 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,577 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,493 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC's holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 608 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 642 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AstraZeneca stock traded up $1.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $67.96. The company had a trading volume of 5,984,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,167,783. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.73 and a 200 day moving average of $69.57. The firm has a market cap of $210.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.40. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $61.24 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. AstraZeneca's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

About AstraZeneca

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.