Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 905 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 24.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,769 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 905 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $13,741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 339,522 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after purchasing an additional 352,143 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,182,843,000 after buying an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $295.56. 2,045,876 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,817,560. The firm has a market cap of $158.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.22.

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.