R Squared Ltd Has $537,000 Position in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

R Squared Ltd lowered its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 54.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,310 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Astrazeneca in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Astrazeneca in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in Astrazeneca by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Astrazeneca in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of AZN traded up $1.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $192.08. 617,069 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,479,546. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71. The company has a market cap of $297.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AZN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.33.

About Astrazeneca

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.