Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Acquires 2,166 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lifted its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 97.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,166 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.95.

Amgen Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.57 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.78. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Amgen 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.