Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.40.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMGN. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.