TD Cowen Raises AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Price Target to $95.00

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) had its price target hoisted by TD Cowen from $90.00 to $95.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

AZN has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup upgraded AstraZeneca to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of AstraZeneca to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a buy rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised their target price on AstraZeneca from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

AZN opened at $83.76 on Monday. AstraZeneca has a 12-month low of $60.47 and a 12-month high of $83.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AstraZeneca will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

AstraZeneca Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. AstraZeneca’s payout ratio is 48.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,271,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,151,177,000 after purchasing an additional 9,002,450 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 39.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 1st quarter worth $186,127,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 2nd quarter worth $188,476,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in AstraZeneca during the 4th quarter worth $143,999,000. 20.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.