Vista Investment Partners LLC Takes $203,000 Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 653 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $270,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 62,436 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,273,000 after purchasing an additional 8,895 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 13,612 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 35,035 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,580,000 after purchasing an additional 10,002 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $295.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.92 billion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.