Boston Partners Sells 46,721 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC $AZN

Boston Partners trimmed its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,989,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,721 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.16% of AstraZeneca worth $349,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 1.3% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 41,200,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,879,062,000 after buying an additional 538,606 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,298,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,488,332,000 after acquiring an additional 196,401 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,647,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,251 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,942,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,283,000 after purchasing an additional 261,064 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 1.9%

AZN stock opened at $93.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $289.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.23. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.24 and a fifty-two week high of $93.41.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

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.