Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Takes Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,732 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,313,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $291.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $274.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, 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. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

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%. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.