Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $206.6667.

AZN has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC lowered Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Institutional Trading of Astrazeneca

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after buying an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 6.7% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 16,422,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,114,088,000 after buying an additional 1,036,635 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after buying an additional 432,939 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Astrazeneca by 889.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,319,947,000 after buying an additional 10,742,268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Astrazeneca Stock Down 1.1%

Astrazeneca stock opened at $164.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $255.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Astrazeneca has a twelve month low of $145.79 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.95.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Astrazeneca will post 10.21 EPS for the current year.

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.