Portland Global Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Portland Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,755 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Portland Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $306.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $164.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $301.08 and a 200-day moving average of $298.16.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

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.