Keystone Financial Group Inc. Takes $238,000 Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 914 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,594,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $415,676,000 after buying an additional 19,053 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $9,313,000. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $1,216,000. Telos Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,997 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,776,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,486 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,903,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Trading Down 3.3 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $297.78 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $271.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.55. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.07 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. On average, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm 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 positive change 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 3.20%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.83.

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.