Barclays Upgrades AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) to “Strong-Buy”

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

AZN has been the topic of several other research reports. Argus lifted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AZN opened at $79.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $247.27 billion, a PE ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $76.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.13. AstraZeneca has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $80.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $12.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 30.42%. Analysts forecast that AstraZeneca will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AstraZeneca

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 95,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,444,000 after purchasing an additional 50,750 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 163,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,979,000 after acquiring an additional 49,541 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 154,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,433,000 after acquiring an additional 15,642 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 281.2% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,064 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstraZeneca during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,395,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

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.