Bell Bank Purchases 4,477 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bell Bank raised its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,477 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after buying an additional 5,751 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 25,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its position in Amgen by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 10,272 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related 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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $276.27 and its 200 day moving average is $300.59. The stock has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results 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%. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. 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 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 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.