Easterly Investment Partners LLC Grows Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Amgen comprises approximately 1.1% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $13,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $543,000. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Amgen by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,571 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $641,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Amgen by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 88,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,144,000 after purchasing an additional 8,494 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 0.4 %

Amgen stock opened at $305.71 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $299.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.46. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. 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 $164.23 billion, a PE ratio of 40.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53.

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%. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.