Columbia Asset Management Reduces Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Columbia Asset Management reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 98.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,499 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,200,697 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for about 1.3% of Columbia Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Columbia Asset Management's holdings in Amgen were worth $6,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th 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 buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $3.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $290.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,996,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,806,485. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.11 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $281.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.36. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $309.22.

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.