Northeast Investment Management Lowers Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Northeast Investment Management lessened its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Curbstone Financial Management Corp raised its stake in Amgen by 22.1% during the first quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 2,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $237,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 1st quarter worth $291,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 557,540 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,702,000 after purchasing an additional 25,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moseley Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (down previously from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $293.43 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $280.93 and its 200 day moving average is $285.41. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.78 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly 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. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.76% 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.