Saratoga Research & Investment Management Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,573 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 167 shares during the period. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. United Community Bank bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 2,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMGN. Argus upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, April 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.35.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.4 %

Amgen stock traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $312.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,518,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,437,626. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.44 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The firm has a market cap of $167.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $301.56 and a 200 day moving average of $292.23.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.