Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Mcdonald Partners LLC

Mcdonald Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,266 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. Amgen comprises about 1.4% of Mcdonald Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Mcdonald Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Amgen in the third quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the third quarter valued at $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of AMGN opened at $291.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $274.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.10. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its 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%. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 119.21%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.