Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 42.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,700 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,716 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $1,331,000. DLK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 19,250 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $9.82 on Tuesday, reaching $305.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,520,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,838,380. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The business's 50-day moving average is $285.90 and its 200 day moving average is $289.56.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Amgen from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Amgen from $315.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $308.77.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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.