Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Raises Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,375 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,446,236,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,893,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,393,718,000 after buying an additional 251,876 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after buying an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

Amgen stock opened at $294.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $158.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.05, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $272.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.77.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

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.