Deutsche Bank upgrades AstraZeneca stock rating to hold on trial results

Deutsche Bank upgraded AstraZeneca's stock rating from Sell to Hold and increased its price target to £117.00 from £115.00, following negative results from the SERENA4 trial. This comes nearly a year after the downgrade, which coincided with a report on breast cancer research. AstraZeneca shares dropped about 3% since then, lagging behind the European large-cap peer group by roughly 10% when adjusted for foreign exchange rates.

Over the last six months, the stock has declined 13%, but it currently trades at a P/E ratio of 24.43 and a PEG ratio of 0.94. The downgrade was attributed to factors such as the second-half event overhang and patent cliff concerns, while other developments like Wainua and Bristol Myers Squibb were not anticipated. Deutsche Bank believes the risk-reward profile for AstraZeneca shares is now more neutral.

In other developments, AstraZeneca's breast cancer drug Etcamah did not meet its primary goal in a late-stage clinical trial, while a combined treatment with Amgen showed promise in treating extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer. Additionally, AstraZeneca's Tezspire met its primary and secondary endpoints in a trial for eosinophilic esophagitis.

However, their experimental silencer drug targeting ATTR-CM failed in a Phase 3 clinical trial, raising concerns in the pharmaceutical industry. Analyst activity includes RBC Capital initiating coverage with an Outperform rating and a price target of £145, highlighting potential growth despite recent challenges.