Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,813 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $305.70 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.69. The firm has a market cap of $164.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.