Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 19,029 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,866 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,029 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Amgen worth $92,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $1,556,912,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $4,589,900,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 751,947 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Amgen by 486.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 899,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,997,000 after purchasing an additional 745,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its position in Amgen by 150.4% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,043,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $300,580,000 after purchasing an additional 626,810 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $313.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,081,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,785,389. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $299.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.67. The company has a market capitalization of $168.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.44 and a fifty-two week high of $329.72.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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.