Madison Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 7,472 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 7,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,948,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $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 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.04 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

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

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.