Simon Quick Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 34.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,022 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 242.2% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,255,000 after purchasing an additional 16,985 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 285.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 394,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $102,820,000 after purchasing an additional 292,137 shares during the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,531,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.9%

Amgen stock opened at $297.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $281.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.48.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMGN. Mizuho upped their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.