Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $5.22 Million Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its position in 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. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 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 transaction, 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 sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $276.27 and a 200-day moving average of $300.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Redburn Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Amgen 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.