Avanza Fonder AB Reduces Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Avanza Fonder AB lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,148 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,974 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises 0.5% of Avanza Fonder AB's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in Amgen were worth $15,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its holdings 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 worth $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 worth about $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.22.

Amgen Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $2.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $295.22. 2,191,182 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,816,229. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business's fifty day moving average is $281.03 and its 200-day moving average is $285.48.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

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.