First Long Island Investors LLC Decreases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First Long Island Investors LLC cut its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 84,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,790 shares during the period. Amgen makes up about 2.0% of First Long Island Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $24,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Amgen by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,857,000 after buying an additional 16,376 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 11,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,941 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. William Blair upgraded shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.00.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $3.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $325.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,253,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,721,015. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.09 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $308.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $174.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Insider Activity at Amgen

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

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.