Astrazeneca Plc $AZN Shares Sold by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 48.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,122 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,879 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $1,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 93.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 45.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 54.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 898.4% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 30,125 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Astrazeneca by 1.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $194.96 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a twelve month low of $137.23 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $183.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.95.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current 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.