Simmons Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Simmons Bank lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,960 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $5,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,701 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $515,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,093,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $285,026,000 after acquiring an additional 29,272 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,746 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,322,000 after acquiring an additional 5,848 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $315.63 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $278.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.16. The stock has a market cap of $169.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.