AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Lifted to “Hold” at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Monday, December 18th. They set a buy rating for the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an overweight rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of AstraZeneca from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $80.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

AZN stock opened at $68.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.88. AstraZeneca has a 52-week low of $60.47 and a 52-week high of $76.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 30.19%. The business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. AstraZeneca’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.965 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2.3%. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is currently 100.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AstraZeneca

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 3rd quarter valued at $715,198,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter valued at $254,290,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 407.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,093,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,553,000 after buying an additional 3,286,137 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 281.2% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,779,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,180,000 after buying an additional 2,050,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 118.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,592,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,951,000 after buying an additional 1,951,591 shares during the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.