Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 16,419 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $35,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 20,113 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,242,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 13,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Park Capital Management LLC WI purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $269,000. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 15,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,082,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents 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 through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

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, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Citigroup reduced their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities 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, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.