Emerald Advisors LLC Increases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN opened at $294.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.77. The stock has a market cap of $158.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 3.24%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America lifted 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.