Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Amgen Call Options (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 34,497 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 93% compared to the typical volume of 17,845 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $308.50. 1,176,196 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,552,491. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $279.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.24. Amgen has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen 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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Amgen by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after acquiring an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1.1% during 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. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 23.3% in the third quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 26.5% in the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Amgen by 1.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,944 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,171,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

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.