Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) Receives “Buy” Rating from Bank of America

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Bank of America in a report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

NYSE AZN traded down $5.58 on Wednesday, reaching $184.04. 683,925 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,486,896. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $184.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.47. The firm has a market cap of $285.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91. Astrazeneca has a fifty-two week low of $137.23 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its 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 return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Astrazeneca will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Astrazeneca

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. VectorGlobal IAG Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Astrazeneca in the first quarter valued at about $822,000. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in Astrazeneca by 106,772.0% during the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 8,054,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,419,000 after acquiring an additional 8,047,406 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at about $478,000. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,719,000. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,271,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.