Global Retirement Partners LLC Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $294.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $275.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.77. The stock has a market cap of $158.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly 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 expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Amgen Company 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.