Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Trims Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,768 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,078 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Amgen were worth $29,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Amgen Stock Down 5.0 %

AMGN stock opened at $294.39 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $158.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $304.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.24. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th 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 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % 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 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.