Kelman Lazarov Inc. Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kelman Lazarov Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 99.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,354 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Kelman Lazarov Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.22.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $291.09 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $156.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $304.54 and a 200-day moving average of $295.80.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

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.