Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 11,384 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 111,168 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,384 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $28,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Amgen by 16.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Amgen by 1.1% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 23.5% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 798 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 6,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $306.38 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $279.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business 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 a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety 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.

About Amgen

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.