Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Has $850,000 Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $297.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 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 has a 50 day moving average of $275.62 and a 200-day moving average of $300.75. The company has a market capitalization of $160.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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, equities research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.