Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,852 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,631 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $41,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its position in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Blossom Wealth Management increased its position in Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Amgen by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its position in Amgen by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Amgen by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of AMGN opened at $262.28 on Thursday. 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 $141.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.89. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.23.

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.