First Bank & Trust Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,530 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust's holdings in Amgen were worth $3,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in Amgen in the 1st quarter worth about $1,331,000. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its position in Amgen by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,531,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reissued 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. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.82.

Amgen Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $1.40 on Friday, hitting $298.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,518,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,849,124. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $282.47 and a 200 day moving average of $286.99. The stock has a market cap of $160.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. The trade was 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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.