Cherokee Insurance Co Has $1.18 Million Stock Holdings in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Cherokee Insurance Co trimmed its stake in Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) by 50.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Cherokee Insurance Co’s holdings in Astrazeneca were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Astrazeneca by 552.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,603,000 after purchasing an additional 4,697,895 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Astrazeneca in the first quarter valued at $675,263,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Astrazeneca by 344.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,478,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,841,000 after buying an additional 2,695,793 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in Astrazeneca during the first quarter worth $473,782,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its position in Astrazeneca by 32,441.5% during the first quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 2,445,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,158,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astrazeneca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $194.96 on Friday. Astrazeneca Plc has a 52 week low of $137.23 and a 52 week high of $212.71. The company has a market capitalization of $302.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. Astrazeneca had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 30.86%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Astrazeneca Plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current year.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.