B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management Boosts Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,533 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in Amgen by 304.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $295.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $283.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.97. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $158.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Amgen

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.