Cozad Asset Management Inc. Buys 100 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $318.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $294.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $298.91.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.