AstraZeneca PLC [NASDAQ: AZN] gained 1.54% on the last trading session, reaching $65.18 price per share at the time. The company report on March 9, 2023 that TAGRISSO® (osimertinib) demonstrated strong overall survival benefit in the ADAURA Phase III trial for adjuvant treatment of patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated lung cancer.
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First Phase III trial to demonstrate survival benefit in this adjuvant setting.
Positive high-level results from the ADAURA Phase III trial showed AstraZeneca’s TAGRISSO® (osimertinib) demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS), a key secondary endpoint, compared to placebo in the adjuvant treatment of patients with early-stage (IB, II and IIIA) epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated (EGFRm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after complete tumor resection with curative intent.
AstraZeneca PLC represents 3.10 billion in outstanding shares, while the company has a total market value of $202.50 billion with the latest information. AZN stock price has been found in the range of $64.785 to $65.80.
If compared to the average trading volume of 4.89M shares, AZN reached a trading volume of 8166103 in the most recent trading day, which is why market watchdogs consider the stock to be active.
Here is what top equities market gurus are saying about AstraZeneca PLC [AZN]:
Based on careful and fact-backed analyses by Wall Street experts, the current consensus on the target price for AZN shares is $76.71 per share. Analysis on target price and performance of stocks is usually carefully studied by market experts, and the current Wall Street consensus on AZN stock is a recommendation set at 2.00. This rating represents a strong Buy recommendation, on the scale from 1 to 5, where 5 would mean strong sell, 4 represents Sell, 3 is Hold, and 2 indicates Buy.
BMO Capital Markets have made an estimate for AstraZeneca PLC shares, keeping their opinion on the stock as Outperform, with their previous recommendation back on January 05, 2023. The new note on the price target was released on September 15, 2022, representing the official price target for AstraZeneca PLC stock.
The Average True Range (ATR) for AstraZeneca PLC is set at 1.18, with the Price to Sales ratio for AZN stock in the period of the last 12 months amounting to 4.57. The Price to Book ratio for the last quarter was 5.45, with the Price to Cash per share for the same quarter was set at 2.06. Price to Free Cash Flow for AZN in the course of the last twelve months was 46.52 with Quick ratio for the last quarter at 0.70.
Trading performance analysis for AZN stock
AstraZeneca PLC [AZN] gain into the green zone at the end of the last week, gaining into a positive trend and gaining by 0.96. With this latest performance, AZN shares dropped by -3.32% in over the last four-week period, additionally plugging by 7.12% over the last 6 months – not to mention a rise of 7.03% in the past year of trading.
Overbought and oversold stocks can be easily traced with the Relative Strength Index (RSI), where an RSI result of over 70 would be overbought, and any rate below 30 would indicate oversold conditions. An RSI rate of 50 would represent a neutral market momentum. The current RSI for AZN stock in for the last two-week period is set at 44.66, with the RSI for the last a single of trading hit 45.80, and the three-weeks RSI is set at 45.39 for AstraZeneca PLC [AZN]. The present Moving Average for the last 50 days of trading for this stock 67.31, while it was recorded at 64.38 for the last single week of trading, and 64.24 for the last 200 days.
AstraZeneca PLC [AZN]: A deeper dive into fundamental analysis
Operating Margin for any stock indicates how profitable investing would be, and AstraZeneca PLC [AZN] shares currently have an operating margin of +11.41 and a Gross Margin at +63.36. AstraZeneca PLC’s Net Margin is presently recorded at +7.41.
Return on Total Capital for AZN is now 7.69, given the latest momentum, and Return on Invested Capital for the company is 5.30. Return on Equity for this stock inclined to 8.93, with Return on Assets sitting at 3.38. When it comes to the capital structure of this company, AstraZeneca PLC [AZN] has a Total Debt to Total Equity ratio set at 78.93. Additionally, AZN Total Debt to Total Capital is recorded at 44.11, with Total Debt to Total Assets ending up at 30.30. Long-Term Debt to Equity for the company is recorded at 63.96, with the Long-Term Debt to Total Capital now at 35.75.
Reflecting on the efficiency of the workforce at the company, AstraZeneca PLC [AZN] managed to generate an average of $31,968 per employee. Receivables Turnover for the company is 4.88 with a Total Asset Turnover recorded at a value of 0.46.AstraZeneca PLC’s liquidity data is similarly interesting compelling, with a Quick Ratio of 0.70 and a Current Ratio set at 0.90.
AstraZeneca PLC [AZN]: An earnings per share (EPS) analysis
The progress of the company may be observed through the prism of EPS growth rate, while Wall Street analysts are focusing on predicting the 5-year EPS growth rate for AZN. When it comes to the mentioned value, analysts are expecting to see the 5-year EPS growth rate for AstraZeneca PLC go to 16.20%.
An analysis of insider ownership at AstraZeneca PLC [AZN]
There are presently around $33,456 million, or 17.90% of AZN stock, in the hands of institutional investors. The top three institutional holders of AZN stocks are: PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ with ownership of 68,591,648, which is approximately -9.012% of the company’s market cap and around 0.50% of the total institutional ownership; WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP, holding 54,606,052 shares of the stock with an approximate value of $3.56 billion in AZN stocks shares; and PRIMECAP MANAGEMENT CO/CA/, currently with $2.93 billion in AZN stock with ownership of nearly -1.375% of the company’s market capitalization.
Positions in AstraZeneca PLC stocks held by institutional investors increased at the end of Thursday and at the time of the Thursday reporting period, where 484 institutional holders increased their position in AstraZeneca PLC [NASDAQ:AZN] by around 36,158,576 shares. Additionally, 424 investors decreased positions by around 46,096,385 shares, while 226 investors held positions by with 431,033,415 shares. The mentioned changes placed institutional holdings at 513,288,376 shares, according to the latest SEC report filing. AZN stock had 164 new institutional investments in for a total of 7,036,619 shares, while 55 institutional investors sold positions of 4,171,248 shares during the same period.