Financial Advocates Investment Management Sells 5,273 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Financial Advocates Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 34.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,273 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth 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 increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 3.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.83.

Amgen Stock Down 3.3 %

Amgen stock opened at $297.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The company has a market capitalization of $160.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $271.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.55. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.