AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) Expected to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $0.96 Per Share

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN - Free Report) - Leerink Partnrs upped their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of AstraZeneca in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, February 13th. Leerink Partnrs analyst A. Berens now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.96 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.95. The consensus estimate for AstraZeneca's current full-year earnings is $4.09 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for AstraZeneca's Q2 2024 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.05 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.09 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.10 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.80 EPS.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.01). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.19% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. AstraZeneca's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AZN. HSBC initiated coverage on AstraZeneca in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered AstraZeneca from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AstraZeneca from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on AstraZeneca in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.00.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $61.66 on Thursday. AstraZeneca has a twelve month low of $60.47 and a twelve month high of $76.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $191.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,876 shares of the company's stock worth $22,965,000 after acquiring an additional 63,872 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the company's stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 4,919 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 247,269 shares of the company's stock worth $17,697,000 after acquiring an additional 6,741 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 317.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,242,431 shares of the company's stock worth $84,136,000 after acquiring an additional 944,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of AstraZeneca by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,134,805 shares of the company's stock worth $152,788,000 after acquiring an additional 338,896 shares in the last quarter. 15.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd will be given a $0.965 dividend. This is a positive change from AstraZeneca's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.47. This represents a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 22nd. AstraZeneca's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.52%.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, andcommercialization of prescription medicines. The company's marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Andexxa/Ondexxya, Atacand, Atacand HCT, Atacand Plus, Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, Xigduo/Xigduo, and Zestril XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Accolate, Accoleit, Vanticon, Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Bricanyl Respules and Turbuhaler, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Rhinocort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tezspire for respiratory and immunology; and Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases.

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