Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 52.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,135,884 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $858,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Blossom Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $306.95 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $164.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $301.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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 on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.