Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Reduces Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during the third 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. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 1,568.7% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Payden & Rygel raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 35,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,406,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,783,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $315.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $296.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.14.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued 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 $314.04.

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.