Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Whittier Trust Co. cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1,568.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Payden & Rygel grew its stake in Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,406,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Amgen by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,783,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $315.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $169.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. 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 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Redburn Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.