Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC trimmed its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,842 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $17,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 33.8% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 47,318 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,240,000 after acquiring an additional 11,954 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in Amgen by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 6,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in Amgen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 5,069 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 128.7% in the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Trading Down 1.4 %

AMGN opened at $293.54 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $272.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.21. The company has a market capitalization of $157.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.88, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. TD Cowen raised their target price on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.23.

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.