Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,211 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 594 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its position in Amgen by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 2,404 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 57,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,927,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,892 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,663,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,520 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. Bank of America raised their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Partners cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $296.66 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $272.59 and its 200 day moving average is $302.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market cap of $159.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

Amgen Company 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.