Viawealth LLC Has $1.98 Million Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Viawealth LLC grew its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,594 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises approximately 1.2% of Viawealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,101,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $5,268,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Amgen by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 190,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $49,695,000 after buying an additional 45,450 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 230,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $60,153,000 after buying an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc increased its position in shares of Amgen by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 229,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $59,700,000 after buying an additional 4,476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $315.75 on Thursday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $169.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.03. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AMGN. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.04.

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.