Money Concepts Capital Corp Decreases Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Money Concepts Capital Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,745 shares of the company’s stock after selling 861 shares during the quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,071,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at approximately $72,437,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,407,000 after buying an additional 564,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,509,000 after acquiring an additional 524,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AZN. UBS Group raised AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $70.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.72. The stock has a market cap of $219.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 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 firm had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.13 EPS for the current 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.