Secured Retirement Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Secured Retirement Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 969 shares during the quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $291.16 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $301.85. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is 119.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.