HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Sells 321 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,290 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 321 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $311.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $167.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.26, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $301.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.81. 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.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company 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 $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. Bank of America upped their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is 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.