Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,864 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 33.8% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $793,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 11.8 %

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $32.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $311.29. 9,644,682 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,279,398. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $211.71 and a one year high of $329.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.50. The stock has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, April 12th. William Blair raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, March 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.05.

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.