First Horizon Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 109.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,048 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,577 shares during the period. Amgen makes up 1.0% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $36,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in shares of Amgen by 304.5% during the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake 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 during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.82.

Insider Activity

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

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN traded up $1.40 on Friday, hitting $298.25. 1,518,529 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,842,825. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average is $282.12 and its 200 day moving average is $286.57.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. Amgen's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

About Amgen

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.