Buzzing stock: AstraZeneca Pharma crashes by more than 11 per cent

On Wednesday, the stock of AstraZeneca Pharma India tumbled by more than 11 per cent on BSE. The company’s parent company AstraZeneca PLC issued a statement stating that the standard review process has triggered a pause to the clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccination to allow the review of safety data.

In detail, late-stage studies of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate are voluntarily put on temporary hold by the company while it investigates if the recipient's ‘potentially unexplained’ illness is a side effect of the shot.

AstraZeneca is currently one of nine companies in late-stage phase 3 trials for their vaccine candidates.

According to BSE data, the stock traded at a P/E multiple of 151.98 and a price-to-book ratio of 28.91. A higher P/E ratio shows that the investors are willing to pay a higher price because of the expectations of a better future growth while price-to-book value indicates the inherent value of a company and is also, the measure of the price that the investors are ready to pay even for no growth in the business.

The shares of AstraZeneca Pharma India opened at Rs 3,800 per share and touched an intraday low of Rs 3,650 per share on BSE on Wednesday. The company’s stock was seen trading at Rs 3,725.45, down by 11.61 per cent or Rs 489.35 per share. The stock of AstraZeneca Pharma touched its all-time high of Rs 4,970 on Tuesday. The stock has gained by nearly 60.93 per cent on a YTD basis and by almost 17.18 per cent since the beginning of September 2020. Over a period of one year, the shares have doubled on BSE.

Meanwhile, the stock was the top loser on BSE Small-Cap index.