Aurora Investment Counsel Sells 5,175 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Aurora Investment Counsel decreased its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 13.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,175 shares during the period. AstraZeneca accounts for about 1.4% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,177,000 after acquiring an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $188,476,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in AstraZeneca by 750.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,523,000 after buying an additional 1,132,362 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 65.1% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,934,000 after buying an additional 950,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AZN. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ AZN opened at $63.20 on Thursday. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $195.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.95.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The company had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.