Financial Counselors Inc. Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,499 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,876 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $21,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Blossom Wealth Management raised its holdings in Amgen by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,377 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Trading Down 2.4 %

AMGN stock opened at $306.86 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.