Spire Wealth Management Lowers Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Spire Wealth Management lessened its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,623 shares of the company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 887,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,083,000 after acquiring an additional 45,504 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.5% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 2.2% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 9,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 2.4% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 7,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 1,897.6% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 70,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,793,000 after purchasing an additional 67,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.8 %

AZN opened at $77.61 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.58. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $77.64. The firm has a market cap of $240.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.07 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.