Banks chime in on AstraZeneca amid vaccine news

Two major global investment banks have provided updated recommendations on AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) shares in the wake of the recent news regarding the vaccine. Both Citigroup (NYSE:C) and UBS have maintained shares at a ‘Buy’ rating.

Although the vaccine maker has offered to sell the initial vaccine doses at cost, there is a risk of reputational damage regarding the vaccine safety. This week, the UK and EU regulators acknowledged that there could be a link between extremely rare but potentially fatal blood clots and the AstraZeneca jab.

With the company in the headlines, policymakers and officials from various countries have been defending the company’s vaccine. The UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock spoke about how the risk of a blood clot from the vaccine is about the same as on a long-haul flight and urged people to continue to take it. The UK Prime Minister Johnson echoed those comments, despite the UK vaccine taskforce recommending that those aged under 30 take a different jab.

It is not just officials and politicians out defending the company, but also the big banks.

Citigroup on AstraZeneca
In a research note on Thursday, Citigroup maintained its ‘Buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of £100.00. The bank said it was also going to maintain its forecast of $1.3bln worth of revenue from Roxadustat in 2030. This news comes amid an admission by FibroGen (NASDAQ:FGEN) earlier this week that they had misstated some data on the anaemia drug the two companies are working on. Fibrogen shares fell 43% on Wednesday following the announcement.

UBS
Swiss banking giant UBS also kept its ‘Buy’ rating on the shares, although the price target is lower at £80.00.

At 15:00BST, AstraZeneca shares were trading higher by 2% at £72.42.