Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock Holdings Raised by Kestra Investment Management LLC

Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,578 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $513,033,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after buying an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after buying an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,581,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 in the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $292.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $274.73 and a 200-day moving average of $300.81. The firm has a market cap of $157.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Company 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.