Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires New Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has invested approximately $4.81 million in Amgen Inc. by acquiring 15,432 shares during the first quarter of the year.
• Analysts' opinions on Amgen's stock vary, with ratings ranging from sell to strong buy, reflecting a consensus price target of $307.27.
• Amgen's stock recently experienced a 1.7% decline, with its shares opening at $301.29 amidst mixed financial reports and analyst projections.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,432 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $4,807,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,693,042,000 after buying an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 43,573.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,661,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,140,768,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $858,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,431,029 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,676,183,000 after acquiring an additional 875,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.27.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $1.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $296.89. 1,457,745 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,902,770. The firm has a market cap of $159.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.49. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $339.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.66.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

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.