Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,794 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 779 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $312.50 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $289.70 and a 200-day moving average of $299.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.39, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-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.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on AMGN shares. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

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.