Northcape Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 70.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,594 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,246 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew 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 worth $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 3.2% during 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 last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AMGN. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen 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. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $292.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $274.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.81.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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 3.25%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

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.