AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 778,846 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,015 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $55,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AZN. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in AstraZeneca by 34.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 21,807,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,742,000 after purchasing an additional 5,617,054 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 21,545,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,495,465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348,916 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 272.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,572,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,415,000 after acquiring an additional 4,077,583 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth about $254,290,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 407.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,093,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,286,137 shares in the last quarter. 15.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.5 %

AZN opened at $64.13 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $198.79 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.51. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $61.73 and a 52 week high of $76.56.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 8th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.30% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, andcommercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Andexxa/Ondexxya, Atacand, Atacand HCT, Atacand Plus, Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, Xigduo/Xigduo, and Zestril XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Accolate, Accoleit, Vanticon, Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Bricanyl Respules and Turbuhaler, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Rhinocort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tezspire for respiratory and immunology; and Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases.