NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Raises Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 101,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Amgen makes up approximately 1.0% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $31,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,245,881,000 after purchasing an additional 352,143 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Amgen by 1,292.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $297.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $159.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $309.22.

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.