AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,230,000 shares, a decline of 14.2% from the December 15th total of 4,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Andesa Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Andesa Financial Management Inc. now owns 8,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in AstraZeneca by 3.9% during the third quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in AstraZeneca by 0.4% during the third quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Seascape Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 45,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roosevelt Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Roosevelt Investment Group LLC now owns 72,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,948,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. 16.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Stock Performance

NASDAQ AZN opened at $69.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. AstraZeneca has a fifty-two week low of $52.65 and a fifty-two week high of $72.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.10 and a 200-day moving average of $62.76. The stock has a market cap of $214.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.53.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 10th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $10.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.98 billion. AstraZeneca had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 29.40%. As a group, analysts predict that AstraZeneca will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on AstraZeneca from £120 ($146.43) to £130 ($158.63) in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AstraZeneca from £125 ($152.53) to £135 ($164.73) in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. TheStreet raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “c” rating to an “a” rating in a research note on Monday, December 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AstraZeneca in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of AstraZeneca from £120 ($146.43) to £118 ($143.99) in a report on Tuesday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9,510.67.

About AstraZeneca

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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.