Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by WCM Investment Management LLC

WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 182.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,544 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 3,955.0% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 174,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 169,748 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $293.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $272.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.00. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. 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 released 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.