First Trust Advisors LP Sells 624,072 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 71.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,584 shares of the company’s stock after selling 624,072 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $48,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after purchasing an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after buying an additional 432,939 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 546.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,026,000 after buying an additional 5,635,812 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank bought a new position in Astrazeneca in the first quarter worth about $1,202,714,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AZN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, June 26th. DZ Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $168.68 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.07. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $142.98 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $261.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.53. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.44 billion. Analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.