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

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,690,000 shares, a growth of 26.1% from the December 31st total of 10,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Institutional Trading of AstraZeneca

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AstraZeneca by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.2% in the third quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 6,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Veery Capital LLC lifted its holdings in AstraZeneca by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Veery Capital LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 8,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AstraZeneca stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $71.24. 4,661,867 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,868,603. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $220.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.46. AstraZeneca has a 52 week low of $60.47 and a 52 week high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The company had revenue of $13.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AstraZeneca will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.