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

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

AZN has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Down 2.9%

Astrazeneca stock traded down $5.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $184.04. The company had a trading volume of 683,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,486,896. The firm has a market cap of $285.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $184.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.47. Astrazeneca has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71. 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 (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly 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. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Astrazeneca

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 4,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Management grew its stake in Astrazeneca by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 21,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,723,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its stake in Astrazeneca by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently 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.