AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Short Interest Update

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,840,000 shares, a drop of 34.0% from the May 15th total of 16,420,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,970,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AstraZeneca in the fourth quarter worth $542,230,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 53,145,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,191,923,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,346 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in AstraZeneca by 407.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,093,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,553,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286,137 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 239.6% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,033,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,480,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,109,766,000 after buying an additional 1,848,321 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.46% of the company’s stock.

AZN stock opened at $60.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.11 and its 200-day moving average is $61.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.96 billion, a PE ratio of -187.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.45. AstraZeneca has a 1 year low of $53.63 and a 1 year high of $71.70.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 29th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.09. AstraZeneca had a positive return on equity of 25.35% and a negative net margin of 2.56%. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 55.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of AstraZeneca from £115 ($139.58) to £120 ($145.65) in a research note on Thursday, April 14th. Kepler Capital Markets lowered AstraZeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from £100 ($121.37) to £120 ($145.65) in a research report on Thursday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AstraZeneca from £102 ($123.80) to £111 ($134.73) in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $8,246.29.

AstraZeneca Company Profile (Get Rating)

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases.

Featured Articles