West Michigan Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

West Michigan Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 55.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,269 shares during the quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the third quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 75,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 63.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 871,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,929,000 after purchasing an additional 338,566 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 18,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 7,331.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 283,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000,000 after purchasing an additional 279,844 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AstraZeneca stock opened at $75.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.44. AstraZeneca PLC has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $87.68. The stock has a market cap of $232.69 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AZN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

About AstraZeneca

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.