Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Sells 1,020 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after buying an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after buying an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amgen by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,393,718,000 after buying an additional 251,876 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 11.7% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 33,125.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $295.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $158.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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%. As a group, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.