Astrazeneca’s (AZN) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports.

AZN has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings started coverage on Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating on the stock. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Price Performance

NYSE AZN traded down $5.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $180.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 430,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,571,971. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $191.27 and a 200 day moving average of $184.13. Astrazeneca has a one year low of $137.23 and a one year high of $212.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Analysts expect that Astrazeneca will post 10.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astrazeneca

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cozad Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter worth $1,271,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at about $98,000. Summitry LLC bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at about $297,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the first quarter valued at about $170,325,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the first quarter worth about $190,802,000. Institutional investors 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.