World Equity Group Inc. Has $256,000 Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 983 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Amgen by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,446,236,000 after acquiring an additional 345,537 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,893,771,000 after acquiring an additional 103,851 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Amgen by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,532,629 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,393,718,000 after acquiring an additional 251,876 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Amgen by 11.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,657,183,000 after acquiring an additional 538,545 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 6.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,442,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,431,432,000 after acquiring an additional 264,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN opened at $309.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $166.38 billion, a PE ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $277.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.20. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $253.30 and a 1 year 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 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, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Redburn Partners cut their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

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.