AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Lifted to “Buy” at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays upgraded AstraZeneca to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Argus upped their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AZN opened at $78.27 on Wednesday. AstraZeneca has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $242.68 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.17.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.04%.

Institutional Trading of AstraZeneca

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,151,177,000 after buying an additional 9,002,450 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the first quarter valued at approximately $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the second quarter valued at approximately $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,999,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

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.