Morningstar Investment Management LLC Buys 239 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lansing Street Advisors grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Unionview LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 3.8% during the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in Amgen by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $294.27 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $158.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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 represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.