Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Sells 927 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 927 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $310.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $166.95 billion, a PE ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current 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 3.06%. 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 Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’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 directly 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. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.