Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Prentice Wealth Management LLC

Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced 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. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $276.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. 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.

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, 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.