Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. by 11.6%, now owning 14,140 shares valued at approximately $4.4 million.
• Several large investors have significantly raised their stakes in Amgen, including Capital World Investors with an increase of 1,292% and GAMMA Investing LLC by 43,573% in the last quarter.
• Amgen’s stock has recently faced mixed ratings from analysts, with an average rating of “Hold” and a price target of $307.27.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,140 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $2.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $297.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,259,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,719. 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 50-day moving average price of $291.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.66. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The business's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.27.

Insider Activity at Amgen

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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. This represents 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. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.