Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases 469,470 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 35,087.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 470,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 469,470 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $122,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Talbot Financial LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position 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 buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $305.82 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.24.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (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, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.