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

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

AZN has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy (b)” rating for the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Astrazeneca stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $182.48. The stock had a trading volume of 607,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,557,403. Astrazeneca has a 1 year low of $137.23 and a 1 year high of $212.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $283.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. On average, research analysts expect that Astrazeneca will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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