Astrazeneca’s (AZN) Sell Rating Reiterated at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft in a research report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on AZN. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE AZN traded down $4.15 on Tuesday, hitting $186.80. The company had a trading volume of 351,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,484,442. Astrazeneca has a 12-month low of $137.23 and a 12-month high of $212.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $184.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $289.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%. As a group, analysts predict that Astrazeneca will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AZN. Amundi increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,456,000 after purchasing an additional 15,375,659 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 889.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,319,947,000 after acquiring an additional 10,742,268 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Astrazeneca by 208.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,386,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,048,417,000 after purchasing an additional 7,021,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank acquired a new stake in Astrazeneca during the 1st quarter worth $1,202,714,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

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.