First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 2,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $309.38. 1,000,711 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,340,821. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.44 and a 52 week high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $165.96 billion, a PE ratio of 44.20, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $303.81 and its 200-day moving average is $292.91.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.