Modera Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,268 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Modera Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 2.9%, selling 3,268 shares, leaving it with 108,441 shares valued at approximately $33.8 million.
• Recent analyst reports have been positive, with Mizuho raising their price target to $280.00 and Wall Street Zen upgrading Amgen from "buy" to "strong-buy".
• Amgen reported a quarterly earnings surprise, posting an EPS of $4.90, exceeding the consensus estimate of $4.18 and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.4%.

Modera Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,441 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,268 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $33,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,331,000. DLK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,384,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 914,380 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $238,316,000 after buying an additional 19,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nutshell Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,763,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Amgen stock traded down $6.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $295.10. 2,251,875 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,671,367. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $291.53 and its 200 day moving average is $291.66. The firm has a market cap of $158.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $340.89.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. Amgen's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Amgen from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

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.