Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Reduces Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 109,833 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,335 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises approximately 0.5% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $34,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter valued at $1,331,000. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 285.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 394,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $102,820,000 after acquiring an additional 292,137 shares in the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 26.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $3,531,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $289.33 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $281.82 and a 200-day moving average of $286.10. The company has a market cap of $155.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Company 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.