Leerink Swann cut shares of Astrazeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report released on Thursday, July 27th, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $31.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $36.00. Leerink Swann also issued estimates for Astrazeneca PLC’s FY2017 earnings at $1.86 EPS, FY2019 earnings at $1.96 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $2.17 EPS.
Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AZN. BidaskClub downgraded Astrazeneca PLC from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. UBS AG downgraded Astrazeneca PLC from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $35.44 to $25.55 in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Barclays PLC reissued an overweight rating on shares of Astrazeneca PLC in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reissued a sell rating on shares of Astrazeneca PLC in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reissued a hold rating on shares of Astrazeneca PLC in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $33.39.
Shares of Astrazeneca PLC (AZN) traded down 0.56% during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $30.17. The company had a trading volume of 5,189,646 shares. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.57 and a 200 day moving average of $31.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 0.74. Astrazeneca PLC has a 12-month low of $25.55 and a 12-month high of $35.60.
Astrazeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.46. Astrazeneca PLC had a return on equity of 35.90% and a net margin of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $5.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Astrazeneca PLC will post $1.85 EPS for the current year.
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The business also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 11th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 9th. Astrazeneca PLC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.92%.
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in Astrazeneca PLC by 67.0% in the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Astrazeneca PLC during the second quarter worth about $105,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in Astrazeneca PLC during the first quarter worth about $107,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Astrazeneca PLC by 3,782.0% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Astrazeneca PLC by 157.1% in the first quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 2,805 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.39% of the company’s stock.
About Astrazeneca PLC
AstraZeneca PLC (AstraZeneca) is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company focuses on discovery and development of products, which are then manufactured, marketed and sold. The Company focuses on three main therapy areas: Oncology, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease (CVMD) and Respiratory, while selectively pursuing therapies in Autoimmunity, Infection and Neuroscience.
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