Violich Capital Management Inc. Sells 250 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Violich Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after purchasing an additional 103,851 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,393,718,000 after purchasing an additional 251,876 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33,125.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,460,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,437,115,000 after buying an additional 4,446,757 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Redburn Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $294.79 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $253.30 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $272.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

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.