Wealth Alliance LLC Reduces Stake in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Wealth Alliance LLC reduced its position in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 53.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,755 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,175 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $1,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Astrazeneca by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 4,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management boosted its position in Astrazeneca by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 21,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,723,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AZN. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, HSBC lowered Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $168.68 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12-month low of $142.98 and a 12-month high of $212.71. The company has a market cap of $261.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. On average, equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.