Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Schechter Investment Advisors LLC

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 27.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,555 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,737 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $1,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Amgen by 304.5% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 141 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Amgen stock opened at $295.27 on Monday. 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 fifty day moving average price is $283.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.31. The company has a market capitalization of $158.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 price target (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating 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 assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.82.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is 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.

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