Alethea Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000. Amgen comprises approximately 0.3% of Alethea Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its position in shares of Amgen by 242.2% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 23,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,255,000 after acquiring an additional 16,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $1,105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $281.22 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. 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 company has a market cap of $151.20 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $299.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.28.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

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.