Greystone Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,393 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,979 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.59. 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 capitalization of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.