Schear Investment Advisers LLC Has $1.43 Million Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,892 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,663,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 45.2% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,520 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. JSF Financial LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 137.5% during the fourth quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 2,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 3,375 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $296.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $272.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.46 billion, a PE ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, 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 directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.