Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $3.37 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lessened its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 27.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,803 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,035 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Amgen were worth $3,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital World Investors grew its position in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $1,541,991,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 43,573.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,140,768,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Amgen by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Guggenheim began coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $288.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.82.

Amgen Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $6.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $296.85. 2,286,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,840,754. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $286.28. The company has a market capitalization of $159.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.96 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,364,368.16. The trade was a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Amgen

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.