Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by First National Advisers LLC

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC increased its stake in Amgen Inc. by 12.3%, holding a total of 20,589 shares valued at approximately $6.41 million, and making it the firm's 16th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including First Pacific Financial and Global Wealth Strategies & Associates, have substantially increased their holdings in Amgen, indicating strong interest in the company among hedge funds.
• Amgen recently reported stronger-than-expected earnings with an EPS of $4.90 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 9.4% year-over-year revenue growth.

First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,589 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 2,256 shares during the period. Amgen makes up about 1.0% of First National Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $6,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in Amgen by 304.5% in the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 89 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 141 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $328.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.27.

Amgen Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ AMGN traded down $5.29 on Thursday, hitting $296.08. 951,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,903,941. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $340.89. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $291.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.49.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.