VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Purchases New Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 300 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after buying an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 242.2% in the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,255,000 after acquiring an additional 16,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $315.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.82, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $295.15 and a 200-day moving average of $299.03. 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.