Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 86,974 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $22,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $318.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.31 billion, a PE ratio of 42.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $288.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

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.