Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP Murdo Gordon Sells 8,771 Shares of Stock

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $273.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 3,671 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Ally Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,043,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,827,000. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Amgen by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advent Capital Management DE bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $2,606,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.