Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC Cuts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,923 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 677 shares during the quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 16,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company increased its holdings in Amgen by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 2,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Financial Co increased its holdings in Amgen by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 4,110 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $291.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. 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 fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $274.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $301.63.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS 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 dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction 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 approximately $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.