Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,542,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,913,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.29% of Amgen as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Talbot Financial LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.95.

Amgen Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.57 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $283.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $299.78. 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 one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.06 billion, a PE ratio of 41.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Amgen 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.