AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Citigroup

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of AstraZeneca to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.00.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.5 %

AZN opened at $79.75 on Monday. AstraZeneca has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $80.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.13.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AstraZeneca

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AZN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 17.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,684,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122,965 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the first quarter valued at approximately $186,127,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,999,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 281.2% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,064 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AstraZeneca

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.