Who’s buying Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)?
To the average investor, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to analyze stocks. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as crucial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of stimuli for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Furthermore, we’re going to analyze the latest info surrounding Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN).
Hedge fund activity in Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)
Heading into Q3, a total of 40 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors had the most valuable position in Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), worth close to $258.4 million, accounting for 5.5% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $199.5 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Consequently, particular hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. OrbiMed Advisors, managed by Samuel Isaly, established the most outsized position in Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN). OrbiMed Advisors had 258.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $199.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Insider trading activity in Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)
Insider buying made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN). These stocks are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN), Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG), and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD). This group of stocks belong to the biotechnology industry and their market caps are similar to AMGN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) | 33 | 0 | 17 |
| Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) | 31 | 0 | 9 |
| Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) | 49 | 0 | 9 |
| Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) | 43 | 1 | 5 |
| Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) | 75 | 1 | 6 |
Using the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, regular investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) applies perfectly to this mantra.
