Key Financial Inc Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Financial Inc cut its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth 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. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Down 2.0 %

Amgen stock opened at $291.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $301.42. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.