D.A. Davidson & CO. Trims Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,859 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,835 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $2,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter valued at $188,476,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 109.6% during the third 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. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 750.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,362 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 65.1% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,934,000 after purchasing an additional 950,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 524,175 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $67.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.43. AstraZeneca PLC has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

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.