Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) Earns “Buy” Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports.

AZN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AZN stock traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $182.48. The stock had a trading volume of 607,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,557,403. Astrazeneca has a 12-month low of $137.23 and a 12-month high of $212.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $190.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.25.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. On average, analysts predict that Astrazeneca will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Astrazeneca

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,633,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,614,000 after buying an additional 1,461,786 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,601,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,051,000 after purchasing an additional 438,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,157,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,537,684,000 after purchasing an additional 445,014 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,456,000 after purchasing an additional 15,375,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,878,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,716,000 after purchasing an additional 432,939 shares during the period. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astrazeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.