Nicolet Bankshares Inc. Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nicolet Bankshares Inc. raised its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,327 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $1,541,991,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Amgen by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after buying an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $401,913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,291,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $858,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 263.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,038,593 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $270,699,000 after acquiring an additional 753,147 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN stock opened at $285.98 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $304.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $295.27.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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 forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. 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.