Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 33.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,498 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. United Community Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $5.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $330.83. 2,191,328 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,192,518. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $309.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.69. The company has a market cap of $177.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 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 12-month low of $224.34 and a 12-month high of $333.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value 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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. Mizuho raised their price target on Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.63.

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.