Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Has $4.37 Million Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,776 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,322 shares during the period. Amgen makes up approximately 1.1% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd 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 stake in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $276.27 and a 200-day moving average of $300.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.