Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,842 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $17,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 3,955.0% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 174,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 169,748 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $293.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $272.26 and a 200 day moving average of $303.21. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $157.79 billion, a PE ratio of 38.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 119.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.23.

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.