Ally Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ally Financial Inc. bought a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,043,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $1,588,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $806,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,281,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,083 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,571,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $408,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.91.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $282.64 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $303.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market cap of $151.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.