Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 596 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in Amgen by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 5,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Amgen by 126.2% during the fourth quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 1,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. First National Advisers LLC lifted its position in Amgen by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 18,333 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,778,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $659,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMGN. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $313.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $291.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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