Gouws Capital LLC Sells 2,763 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Gouws Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,763 shares during the period. Amgen comprises about 2.5% of Gouws Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $312.19 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $282.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market cap of $167.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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.