Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Amgen by 263.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,699,000 after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Amgen by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,338,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $609,526,000 after acquiring an additional 676,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % 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 owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $317.17 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.02. The stock has a market cap of $170.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

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.