Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 46,879 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,053,511 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,879 shares during the period. Astrazeneca comprises about 0.5% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.13% of Astrazeneca worth $360,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AZN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Astrazeneca by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Astrazeneca by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Astrazeneca by 54.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Astrazeneca by 898.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 30,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Astrazeneca by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 46,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 3.1%

AZN stock opened at $179.90 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.28. Astrazeneca Plc has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market cap of $279.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. On average, research analysts expect that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AZN. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

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.