Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $280.26, but opened at $268.91. Amgen shares last traded at $272.06, with a volume of 666,436 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.22.

Amgen Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $146.90 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $304.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.15.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % 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 valued at $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.