Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $2.33 Million Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its holdings in Amgen by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 2,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 4,110 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 7,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $9,313,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler raised 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $291.16 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $301.63.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (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%. Analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Company 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.