IFP Advisors Inc Acquires 357 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 16.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,825,000 after acquiring an additional 17,387 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $173,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 798 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 6,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America lifted 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, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $306.38 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $279.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.20. The stock has a market cap of $164.59 billion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two 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, topping 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, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.