Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Van Cleef Asset Management Inc

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,682 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 330 shares during the period. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $305.82 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $164.29 billion, a PE ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $279.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share 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. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.