J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 0.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 165,636 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Amgen by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,890,769,000 after acquiring an additional 243,720 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Amgen by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after acquiring an additional 751,947 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,556,912,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,716,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $782,288,000 after purchasing an additional 490,539 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Argus upped their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.35.

Amgen Trading Up 0.5 %

AMGN traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $310.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,274,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,747,725. The stock has a market cap of $166.77 billion, a PE ratio of 44.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.44 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $304.61 and its 200-day moving average is $293.03.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of Amgen 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company 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.