AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Sold by Becker Capital Management Inc.

Becker Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 373,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,770 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $26,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,326,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 31,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,285,000 after buying an additional 5,807 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,807,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,853,000 after buying an additional 948,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the first quarter valued at about $40,042,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $91.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $283.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.32. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $61.24 and a twelve month high of $94.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.89.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 32.89%. 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 firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.75.

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.