David M. Reese Sells 25,225 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $276.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.40. The firm has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56.

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, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders 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 is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Truist Financial decreased 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Talbot Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.