AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) was a little weaker early on after a downgrade from the American ‘shop’ Jefferies, which thinks current financial forecasts are just too optimistic.
“We and consensus have been guilty of failing to reflect the impact of future revenue externalisation and asset disposals on revenue and earnings per share growth,” said analyst Jeffrey Holford.
He has pegged back his EPS estimates by up to 9% after re-looking at the numbers; he moved his recommendation to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ at the same time.
“We also highlight the false sense of profitability and cash flow/ dividend cover in our work, leading us to downgrade,” he added.
At 12.50pm, the shares were changing hands for £47.34, down 1.2% or 58.5p.
The Jefferies analyst thinks they are worth £50.50 each, while the consensus price target us just a tad over £51 (down from £54 six months ago).
Of the 17 analysts logged as following AZ by the Brokerforecasts site, eight have ‘buy’ recommendations.
There are only three ‘sellers’ of the stock, while the remainder agree with Jefferies that the stock is fully valued.
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