KFA Private Wealth Group LLC Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

KFA Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 22.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,035,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,178,910,000 after buying an additional 165,636 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Amgen by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,890,769,000 after buying an additional 243,720 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,679,625,000 after buying an additional 751,947 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $1,556,912,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Amgen by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,716,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $782,288,000 after buying an additional 490,539 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Ten investment 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, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Amgen Trading Up 0.5 %

Amgen stock traded up $1.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $310.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,274,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,024. 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 $218.44 and a 52-week high of $329.72. The firm has a market cap of $166.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $305.43 and a 200 day moving average of $293.27.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted 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. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen 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.