AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Short Interest Update

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,690,000 shares, an increase of 26.1% from the December 15th total of 10,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 1.9 %

AstraZeneca stock traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $66.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,942,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,892,312. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. AstraZeneca has a 12 month low of $60.47 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The stock has a market cap of $207.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The company had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. AstraZeneca's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AstraZeneca will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Martin Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.8% during the third quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 284,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,571,000 after acquiring an additional 7,615 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $754,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 43,610 shares of the company's stock worth $3,398,000 after buying an additional 13,860 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 224,751 shares of the company's stock worth $17,510,000 after buying an additional 16,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.2% during the third quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC now owns 2,652,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $206,677,000 after buying an additional 201,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.

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