AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Short Interest Update

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,070,000 shares, a growth of 74.3% from the October 31st total of 4,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AZN. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AstraZeneca from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AstraZeneca currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:AZN traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,586,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,314,258. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.27 and a 200 day moving average of $77.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $209.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.47. AstraZeneca has a 1 year low of $60.47 and a 1 year high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.08 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AstraZeneca will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZN. FMR LLC lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,080,000 after acquiring an additional 258,477 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,715 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,509,000 after acquiring an additional 524,175 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 16.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,565,000 after acquiring an additional 488,644 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,458,000 after buying an additional 186,010 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

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.