Clarius Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Clarius Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 23.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,277 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $3,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,541,991,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 43,573.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after buying an additional 3,653,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Amgen by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after buying an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.22.

Amgen Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $289.63. 2,025,171 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,819,601. The company has a market cap of $155.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $281.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.81. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.