Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Acquires 104 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,936 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lansing Street Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Unionview LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.4% in the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.6% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 4.6% in the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $297.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $275.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.