Westover Capital Advisors LLC Sells 4,524 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,524 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 546.1% during the first 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 buying an additional 5,635,812 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new stake in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,982,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at $351,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its position in Astrazeneca by 7,317.7% during the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 168,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,658,000 after purchasing an additional 166,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its position in Astrazeneca by 166.2% during the first quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Astrazeneca News

Here are the key news stories impacting Astrazeneca this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AstraZeneca agreed to pay up to $1.5 billion for global rights to Zegfrovy (sunvozertinib) from Dizal, adding an already marketed EGFR therapy to its oncology pipeline and expanding its presence in non-small cell lung cancer, including key markets such as the U.S. and China. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The deal includes a $600 million upfront payment and could provide a new commercial growth driver, which may help offset recent worries around AstraZeneca’s pipeline and support longer-term revenue growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports repeated the same transaction details, reinforcing the strategic importance of the licensing move but adding little new information beyond the initial announcement. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-alert stories highlighted pending investigations tied to AstraZeneca and referenced the earlier Wainua trial miss, which had pressured shares after the Phase III CARDIO-TTransform study failed its primary endpoint in ATTR cardiomyopathy. Article Title

Astrazeneca Price Performance

AZN opened at $168.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $182.71 and a 200-day moving average of $188.52. Astrazeneca Plc has a 1-year low of $137.23 and a 1-year high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $260.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly 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. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

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.