Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Buys New Shares in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,071 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1,292.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $1,140,768,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $289.63 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average is $281.59 and its 200-day moving average is $285.81. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $155.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Amgen had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 176.11%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 18th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.22.

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.

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