Hamel Associates Inc. Sells 3,243 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Hamel Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 41.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,611 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,243 shares during the quarter. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after buying an additional 438,709 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,537,684,000 after acquiring an additional 445,014 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,716,000 after acquiring an additional 432,939 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 546.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,667,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,026,000 after acquiring an additional 5,635,812 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at $1,202,714,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AZN shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC cut Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZN opened at $168.81 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $182.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $261.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.24. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. Equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Astrazeneca

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.