Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Sells 817 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 35,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 817 shares during the quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV increased its position in Amgen by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 4,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $1,173,000. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Amgen by 470.5% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 15,809 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 13,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 30,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,039,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $303.01 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $276.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen 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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.