Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Astrazeneca from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.67.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

NYSE AZN opened at $156.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $242.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Astrazeneca has a twelve month low of $153.41 and a twelve month high of $212.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.69.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.44 billion. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Astrazeneca will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astrazeneca

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,853,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. Parrish Capital LLC boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 1.1% during the third quarter. Parrish Capital LLC now owns 9,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Astrazeneca by 8.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 105,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,989,000 after acquiring an additional 8,023 shares in 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, United Kingdom. Its research, development and commercial operations focus on prescription medicines for serious and chronic diseases, with an emphasis on discovering and delivering innovative therapies rather than operating as a diversified healthcare conglomerate.

The company’s principal therapeutic areas include oncology; cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases; respiratory and immunological conditions; and rare diseases.