Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Increases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 38 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $296.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.50. The company has a market cap of $159.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AMGN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.