Piedmont Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Piedmont Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Amgen makes up 0.4% of Piedmont Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Piedmont Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,721,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,741,409,000 after buying an additional 339,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,441,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672,975 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,475,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,245,881,000 after acquiring an additional 352,143 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Amgen by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,212,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,182,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495,503 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Amgen by 1,292.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,495,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,693,042,000 after purchasing an additional 6,029,058 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $280.84 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.99 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $301.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.62. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.57.

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.