Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Buys 205 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,087 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $401,913,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 753,147 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Amgen by 40.7% in 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 buying an additional 676,598 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in 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 buying an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $324.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $174.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a P/E/G 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $286.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $299.89. 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 results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.95.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. 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 company insiders.

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.