Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,529 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,130 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $2,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in Amgen by 304.5% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in shares of 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. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.82.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $277.13. 2,894,198 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,830,308. The company has a market cap of $149.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $281.02 and a 200 day moving average of $286.11.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Company 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.