Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 621,889 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 9,096 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Amgen worth $193,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 43,573.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $401,913,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 18th. Erste Group Bank cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.82.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $298.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $286.57. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $160.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 2.68 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.

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