Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,737 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Amgen by 114.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 36,595 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,833,000 after acquiring an additional 19,532 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Amgen by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,127,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $574,427,000 after acquiring an additional 81,655 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Amgen by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV increased its position in Amgen by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV now owns 11,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,009,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, EHP Funds Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $269,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. William Blair raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.35.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $309.38 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $303.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.80. The stock has a market cap of $165.96 billion, a PE ratio of 44.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.42. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $218.44 and a one year high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.