Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $129.13 Million Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 494,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,997 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.09% of Amgen worth $129,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 in the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $317.17 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.02. The company has a market cap of $170.39 billion, a PE ratio of 42.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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 forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

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.