Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP Lowers Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP’s holdings in Amgen were worth $713,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Talbot Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $513,033,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 6.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 2.9 %

AMGN opened at $306.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $164.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $279.08 and its 200 day moving average is $300.20.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

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 Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.