Empirical Finance LLC Grows Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. United Community Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $5.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $330.83. The stock had a trading volume of 2,163,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,716,832. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.34 and a 1-year high of $333.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.36. The company has a market cap of $177.47 billion, a PE ratio of 46.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.58.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. William Blair raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.00.

Amgen Company 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.