Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 166 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. lessened its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. Amgen accounts for 1.7% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 339,522 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Amgen by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,893,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $306.86 on Wednesday. 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 $164.85 billion, a PE ratio of 40.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.41.

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 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.