Nwam LLC Reduces Stock Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Nwam LLC trimmed its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,394 shares during the period. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signet Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,565,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 83,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,669,000 after acquiring an additional 14,576 shares in the last quarter. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,598,000. QP Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $810,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 223.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after acquiring an additional 20,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 0.4%

AZN opened at $169.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $182.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $262.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $137.23 and a 12 month high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced 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 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 predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC downgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

About Astrazeneca

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.