AstraZeneca PLC $AZN Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 15.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 95,715 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,600 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $7,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 173.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 3,745,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,764,000 after buying an additional 2,376,032 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 14,797.3% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,322,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,307,047 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 2,389.9% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,043,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,764 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 15.2% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,167,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 64.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,783,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,662 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AstraZeneca stock opened at $94.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.83. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $61.24 and a 12 month high of $96.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.34.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $15.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.75 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 32.89%. AstraZeneca’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AZN. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AstraZeneca in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.75.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led 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’s operations span research and development, large-scale manufacturing, and commercial distribution, with a presence in developed and emerging markets worldwide.

The company focuses on several core therapy areas including oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.