Willner & Heller LLC Cuts Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Willner & Heller LLC decreased its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AZN. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 1.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,080,000 after acquiring an additional 258,477 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,509,000 after purchasing an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.8% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,458,000 after buying an additional 186,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,605,758 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AZN opened at $66.60 on Monday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1-year low of $60.47 and a 1-year high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.48. The stock has a market cap of $206.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AZN. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

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.