Guardian Capital LP Increases Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Guardian Capital LP increased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,248 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Guardian Capital LP’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Amgen by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 8,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $390,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $417,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $1,524,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 480.6% in the fourth quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 5,806 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,513,000 after buying an additional 4,806 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

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 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 trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.57.

Amgen Stock Up 1.9 %

Amgen stock opened at $288.56 on Wednesday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $301.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

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 $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

About Amgen

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.