State Street Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

State Street Corp lowered its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 22.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,817,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 511,916 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $141,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 17,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 6,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 3,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $66.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $206.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.71.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca 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.