AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.75.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AstraZeneca from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Citigroup raised shares of AstraZeneca to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th.

Institutional Trading of AstraZeneca

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company's stock worth $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $988,972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122,965 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in AstraZeneca in the first quarter worth $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in AstraZeneca in the 2nd quarter valued at $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth $143,999,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company's stock.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZN traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,607,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,263,183. AstraZeneca has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $87.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company's 50 day moving average price is $81.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.46. The firm has a market cap of $243.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.47.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 13.11%. The firm had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. AstraZeneca's payout ratio is 48.04%.

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.