Thompson Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,234 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,306,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 89,086 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $23,219,000 after buying an additional 25,389 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 26,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,021,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Counterweight Ventures LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 7,506 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,956,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,663,000 after buying an additional 3,314 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $293.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market cap of $157.79 billion, a PE ratio of 38.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.21. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.23.

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.