Arjuna Capital Reduces Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Arjuna Capital lessened its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,244 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for 1.5% of Arjuna Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unionview LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 6,972 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management boosted its position in Amgen by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.95.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $324.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.03, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given 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 yield of 2.93%. 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.