SouthState Bank Corp Sells 63,327 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

SouthState Bank Corp lowered its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 99.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,327 shares during the quarter. SouthState Bank Corp’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 552.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,603,000 after purchasing an additional 4,697,895 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $675,263,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $473,782,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 32,441.5% during the first quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 2,445,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,158,000 after buying an additional 2,437,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,160,000 after buying an additional 2,431,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE AZN opened at $169.08 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.47. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52-week low of $137.23 and a 52-week high of $212.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $262.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astrazeneca Company 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.