Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 705 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,494 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 705 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lansing Street Advisors grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Unionview LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.4% in the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.59. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AMGN. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.