Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by LifeSteps Financial Inc.

LifeSteps Financial Inc. grew its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dividend Assets Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 32,118 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Amgen by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 24,393 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,358,000 after purchasing an additional 4,979 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Amgen by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 4,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Dahring Cusmano LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $861,000. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $303.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $276.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMGN. Bank of America upped their price target on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.