AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Shares Sold by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,346 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,080,000 after buying an additional 258,477 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.3% during 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. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,565,000 after acquiring an additional 488,644 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,458,000 after acquiring an additional 186,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ AZN opened at $66.58 on Friday. AstraZeneca PLC has a one year low of $60.47 and a one year high of $87.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.71. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $206.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.45.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AZN. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Company 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.