Trek Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Trek Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 44.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the quarter. Trek Financial LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blossom Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.8% during the third quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 5.0 %

AMGN opened at $294.39 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.15 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $304.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.99.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.