Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Trims Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,741 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 339,522 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Amgen by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after buying an additional 352,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,541,991,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $309.85 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $166.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.04, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $303.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.77.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.04.

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.