Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Checchi Capital Advisers LLC

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,701 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Amgen by 263.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Amgen by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Amgen by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after buying an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Amgen by 573.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 355,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $114,666,000 after buying an additional 303,016 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $315.63 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $169.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $278.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.16. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’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 owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen 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.