Emerald Advisers LLC Trims Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Emerald Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 89.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,205 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blossom Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,377 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 2.8% during the third quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. 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 currently owned by insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 0.3 %

AMGN opened at $316.04 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $297.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.57. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio 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.