Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,058 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

AMGN stock opened at $303.01 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $276.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Redburn Partners cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related 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 value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.