Investors might be trying to gauge which way shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN) will swing over the next couple of quarters. In recent trading activity, the stock has been seen near the $40.12 level. Many investors pay increased attention to shares when they are nearing notable historical highs or lows. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has touched a high price of 43.02, and seen a low price of 35.49. Looking at some additional historical stock price information, we note that shares have seen a move 2.71% over the previous 12 weeks. If we pull in closer to look at performance over the past month, we see that shares have seen a change of -3.58%. Over the last 5 trading sessions, the stock has moved -0.82%. Investors will most likely be keeping their eyes peeled to see how the stock performs heading into the next round of earnings reports.
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Following some earnings data for AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN), we note that the current quarter EPS consensus estimate is 0.45. This EPS estimate is using data provided by 1 sell-side analysts polled by Zacks Research. This consensus estimate may vary from other data outlets providing consensus projections. Last quarter, the company reported a quarterly EPS of 0.45. Investors often pay extra close to the actual numbers when they are reported. If the actual comes in way under what the analysts were predicting, investors might want to take a deeper look to see what is going on with the stock. Investors may also be on the lookout for positive surprises on earnings beats. When a company reports actual earnings results, the surprise factor may cause the stock price to move sharply in either direction. Because it is difficult to gauge how a stock will react after the earnings report, investors may trade with increased caution during this period of time.
Investors tracking shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN) may be closely following analyst price target estimates. Reviewing company shares, we can see that the current average target price is 45.43. Keeping track of all the day to day stock market happenings can sometimes be a burden, even for the most seasoned investors. Investors may use sell-side analyst target estimates to help figure out if their assumptions about the future direction of a particular stock price are shared. Of course, nobody can project the future stock price of a company with exact precision. Investors may use analyst target prices as a good starting point for comparing current stock prices and making educated projections themselves.
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After a recent stock review, we can see that AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN) currently has an average broker rating of 1.86. Based on analysts polled by Zacks Research, this rating lands on an easy to follow scale from 1 to 5 where a 1 would indicate a Strong Buy and a 5 would represent a Strong Sell recommendation. Sell-side analysts often provide recommendations for stocks that they regularly cover. Different institutions may use various terminologies for how they describe their ratings. Because individual analyst ratings can vary, investors may choose to follow the average in order to track the general sell-side sentiment. Looking a little further, we can see that 5 polled analysts currently have the stock rated as a Strong Buy or Buy.
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