Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,050 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 651 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for approximately 1.6% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 8,369 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 398.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 6,052 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 4,837 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1,568.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $317.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $170.39 billion, a PE ratio of 42.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $292.99 and a 200 day moving average of $299.02. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % 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. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.