Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Position in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 506,072 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,518 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $39,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,605,758 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 750.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,283,274 shares of the company's stock worth $100,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,362 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 65.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409,718 shares of the company's stock worth $187,934,000 after acquiring an additional 950,000 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,437,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $816,509,000 after purchasing an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ AZN traded up $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.40. The stock had a trading volume of 6,018,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,308,330. 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 market capitalization of $208.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.93. AstraZeneca PLC has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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.