Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $11,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. lifted its position in Amgen by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 23,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,911 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $277,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $308.06 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. 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 company has a market capitalization of $165.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.99.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 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 paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 3.09%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners dropped their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.