LPL Financial LLC Acquires 75,636 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 9.1%, owning approximately 903,878 shares worth $281.6 million at the end of the recent quarter.
• Amgen's recent earnings report showed a significant EPS of $4.90, beating analysts' expectations, and a revenue increase of 9.4% year-over-year, totaling $8.15 billion.
• At present, 76.50% of Amgen's stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, reflecting strong institutional interest in the company.

LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 903,878 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,636 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Amgen worth $281,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Amgen by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Amgen by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded down $2.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $299.25. 571,519 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,901,409. The stock has a market cap of $160.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $291.07 and a 200 day moving average of $291.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $340.89.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. The company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.