Principal Securities Inc. Has $3.55 Million Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,612 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $291.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $301.42. The firm has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (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, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.21%.

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.