Verity & Verity LLC Has $29.96 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,157 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,667 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for about 2.6% of Verity & Verity LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $29,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $270,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 27,468 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,226 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 2,404 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 593 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 263.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $270,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $295.56. 2,027,879 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,817,560. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.96 EPS. Amgen's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.22.

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.