Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,048 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Amgen by 263.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Amgen by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $316.57 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.78. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.95.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.