Biechele Royce Advisors Acquires 950 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Biechele Royce Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 67,075 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises 6.3% of Biechele Royce Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Biechele Royce Advisors’ holdings in Amgen were worth $19,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,556,912,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,589,900,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Amgen by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after buying an additional 751,947 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Amgen by 486.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,997,000 after buying an additional 745,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Amgen by 150.4% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,043,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,580,000 after purchasing an additional 626,810 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $3.42 during trading on Thursday, reaching $325.09. 2,253,879 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,721,015. The company’s 50 day moving average is $307.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.39 billion, a PE ratio of 46.38, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.09 and a 52 week high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The company’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Amgen from $328.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.00.

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.