US Bancorp DE Lowers Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 738,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 13,070 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Amgen were worth $192,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction 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. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $308.06 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $280.87 and a 200 day moving average of $300.16. The firm has a market cap of $165.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

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.