Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Sells 11,872 Shares of Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. cut its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,872 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $2,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,503,614,000 after buying an additional 1,461,786 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after acquiring an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after acquiring an additional 445,014 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after acquiring an additional 432,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Astrazeneca by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AZN shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. DZ Bank raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Astrazeneca has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $192.77 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $184.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.53. Astrazeneca Plc has a one year low of $137.23 and a one year high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $298.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.24.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.