Amgen, Inc. Poised To Break Higher

After hitting more highs over the past month, the last week or two has been somewhat of a choppy period of time in the stock market.

The end of last week and start to this week drew a lot of stocks lower, and as has commonly been the case this year, biotech stocks seem to take the brunt of the selling pressure.

However, the market rebounded Tuesday and the biotech names reaped the rewards. Unfortunately, it was just one day, and one day doesn’t make a trend. Investors looking at biotechnology may want to look for safety via isolating the names that have done the best.

One biotech name in particular is dangerously close to hitting a new high, and the name is a popular one.

The company: Amgen, Inc.

Ticker Symbol: AMGN

Sector: Healthcare

Industry: Biotechnology

Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers human therapeutics in the areas of oncology, hematology, inflammation, bone health, nephrology, cardiovascular and general medicine worldwide.

Related Link: PDL BioPharma: The Biotech Stock That Pays A Nice Dividend

Its principal products include Neulasta, Neupogen and Enbrel. The company’s other major products also comprise Aranesp and Epogen, Xgeva and Prolia, and Sensipar/Mimpara products.

Take a look at the one-year chart of Amgen with added notations:

Amgen has been on a nice run since its April low near $107. After rallying for the following three months, the stock finally approached its 52-week high near $127.

At the end of July Amgen broke to a new high and has continued higher since. However, over the last three weeks the stock has stalled at a clear $140 resistance.

If Amgen can break through $140, investors would have a chance to get into a strong biotech name that is also hitting even more new highs.

The stock closed Tuesday at $139.33; earnings are not set to be released again until the end of October.

At time of publication, Amgen traded at $141.00, up 1.2 percent.