Astrazeneca’s (AZN) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research note issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports.

AZN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. DZ Bank raised Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 0.5%

AZN traded up $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $182.48. The company had a trading volume of 607,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,557,403. The company has a market capitalization of $283.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Astrazeneca has a one year low of $137.23 and a one year high of $212.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $190.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.53.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Astrazeneca will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astrazeneca

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after buying an additional 1,461,786 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,051,000 after acquiring an additional 438,709 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,537,684,000 after acquiring an additional 445,014 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,456,000 after acquiring an additional 15,375,659 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,716,000 after purchasing an additional 432,939 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Company Profile

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.