Wedbush Securities Inc. Boosts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Amgen by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amgen by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $43,494,000. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC increased its position in Amgen by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC now owns 1,772 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $294.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $158.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.49. 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 issued its 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 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.04.

Amgen Company 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.