Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $294.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $304.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share 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 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 3.23%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMGN. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction 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 $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.