Nova R Wealth Inc. Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nova R Wealth Inc. decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 1.6% of Nova R Wealth Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Nova R Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Amgen by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Amgen by 8.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 197,457 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,402,000 after buying an additional 15,564 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 5,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,910,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 9,641 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $296.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $273.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.21%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596 in the last ninety days. 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.