Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by Madison Asset Management LLC

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 47.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,436 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,148 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $4,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after buying an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,537,684,000 after buying an additional 445,014 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,716,000 after acquiring an additional 432,939 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 546.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,026,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,202,714,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 2.8%

Astrazeneca stock opened at $169.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $262.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $138.84 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.20.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. Equities research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AZN. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” 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 report on Friday, June 26th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Company 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.