Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 6,938 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Phoenix Financial Ltd. trimmed its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 804,660 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,938 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $61,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 111.6% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 66,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,113,000 after buying an additional 35,148 shares during the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 96.2% during the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 77,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,953,000 after acquiring an additional 38,043 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 10.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 191,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,156,000 after acquiring an additional 17,548 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 68.2% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,899,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,730,000 after acquiring an additional 770,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the third quarter worth $14,884,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of AZN stock opened at $94.23 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.34. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $96.51.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.05. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.89% and a net margin of 16.17%.The firm had revenue of $15.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Friday, January 16th. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.75.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led 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’s operations span research and development, large-scale manufacturing, and commercial distribution, with a presence in developed and emerging markets worldwide.

The company focuses on several core therapy areas including oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.