Prospera Financial Services Inc Lowers Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Prospera Financial Services Inc trimmed its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 111,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,209 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $19,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 2,789 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 45.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after buying an additional 11,690 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 54.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 3,618 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 898.4% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after buying an additional 30,125 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. DZ Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:AZN opened at $187.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $290.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.96. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12-month low of $137.23 and a 12-month high of $212.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astrazeneca Profile

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.