Verus Capital Partners LLC Acquires 66 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. BIP Wealth LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN traded up $2.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $332.32. The stock had a trading volume of 317,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,691,645. The stock has a market cap of $178.27 billion, a PE ratio of 47.78, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.42. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $224.34 and a one year high of $335.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $309.80 and a 200-day moving average of $295.11.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Amgen from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.63.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.