Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,504 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 1.3% of Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. United Community Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho lifted 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. William Blair raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.35.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $309.38. 1,000,711 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,340,821. The company has a market cap of $165.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $303.81 and its 200 day moving average is $292.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.44 and a 12-month high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. Amgen’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 EPS for the current 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.