CENTRAL TRUST Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,536 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,295 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Amgen were worth $11,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Bell Bank raised its holdings in Amgen by 2.4% during the first quarter. Bell Bank now owns 31,470 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $9,804,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 144.1% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 166 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter worth $2,645,000. NBT Bank N A NY raised its stake in Amgen by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 5,673 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,767,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 33.7% in the first quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,773 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $295.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The business's 50 day moving average is $281.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.75. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month 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.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for 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%. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Mizuho raised 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. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.

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