David M. Reese Sells 8,711 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stock

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Amgen Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $303.01 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week 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. The stock 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.31.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amgen

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Amgen by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after acquiring an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,751 shares in the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 938 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% 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.