AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $206.67.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZN shares. CICC Research started coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Sunday, August 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $198.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th.

Institutional Trading of AstraZeneca

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smith Moore & CO. acquired a new position in shares of AstraZeneca in the third quarter valued at about $441,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 7.5% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 16,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in AstraZeneca by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 27,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,460,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE raised its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz SE now owns 94,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,345,000 after buying an additional 14,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:AZN opened at $184.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $286.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.24. AstraZeneca has a 12 month low of $153.41 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $16.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 31.85% and a net margin of 17.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca plc is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company discovers, develops and commercializes prescription medicines, with a focus on oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare diseases. Its research and commercial operations serve patients and healthcare systems across more than 100 countries. AstraZeneca’s portfolio includes medicines for cancer, respiratory and immune-mediated conditions, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, and rare disorders.