Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 3,887 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,074 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,887 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $4,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca in the third quarter valued at approximately $715,198,000. Manning & Napier Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after buying an additional 2,050,064 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 22,946,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,937,000 after buying an additional 1,139,295 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in AstraZeneca by 346.3% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,420,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,696,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 317.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,136,000 after acquiring an additional 944,765 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZN opened at $77.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $240.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $77.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.58.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results 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). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AZN. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

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.