Share tips: Snap up this cheap pharma giant

Big pharmas are well placed to profit from the treatment of ageing populations, says Paul Hill. And with a pipeline full of new drugs, this stock's a buy.

Shares in GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca have historically moved in lock-step. But over the past 12 months there's been a 20% relative decline in the latter, which I think looks unjustified (though not all my MoneyWeek colleagues agree seeGlaxo:a better bet than AstraZenecafor an alternative take).

AstraZeneca closed December with net funds of $2.8bn, which should support its planned $4.5bn buyback programme and 6% yield. Ageing populations and the rise of personalised medicine mean the firm also has plenty of opportunities to exploit. So why are investors pessimistic?

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Paul gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to qualify as a chartered management accountant. He has extensive corporate finance and investment experience and is a member of the Securities Institute.

Over the past 16 years Paul has held top-level financial management and M&A roles for blue-chip companies such as O2, GKN and Unilever. He is now director of his own capital investment and consultancy firm, PMH Capital Limited.

Paul is an expert at analysing companies in new, fast-growing markets, and is an extremely shrewd stock-picker.