Vista Investment Partners II LLC Invests $555,000 in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.95.

Amgen Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $324.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $174.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year 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 of $286.14 and a 200-day moving average of $299.48.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

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.