Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,727 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,741,409,000 after buying an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after buying an additional 352,143 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Amgen by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029,058 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $329.00 to $328.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.22.

Amgen Price Performance

AMGN stock opened at $271.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $145.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.36.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 86.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.