Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Position Lowered by Saratoga Research & Investment Management

Saratoga Research & Investment Management reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,318 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Amgen were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 328,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $86,810,000 after acquiring an additional 10,946 shares during the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 9,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Portland Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Portland Global Advisors LLC now owns 23,755 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,192,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,798,000. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,933,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Up 0.4 %

AMGN stock opened at $306.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $164.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.94.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen 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 owns 7,210 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.