7,472 Shares in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Bought by Madison Investment Advisors LLC

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,948,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $316.04 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, 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 quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.02.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.