Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 630,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,187 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Amgen worth $164,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,578,000 after buying an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,581,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $291.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $274.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $301.42. The company has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

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.