First Merchants Corp Acquires 52 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

First Merchants Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,261 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $273.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.18. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reduced their target price 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.