Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Sells 817 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 817 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 4,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $1,173,000. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Amgen by 470.5% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 15,809 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,120,000 after buying an additional 13,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in Amgen by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 30,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,039,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $303.01 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $276.27 and a 200 day moving average of $300.31. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued 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 yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

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.