Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,891 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,413 shares during the period. Amgen comprises approximately 1.8% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $16,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,658 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Amgen by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,857,000 after acquiring an additional 16,376 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in Amgen by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 4.4% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners lifted its stake in Amgen by 7.4% in the third quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 5,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $7.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $307.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,858,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,909,728. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $329.72. The stock has a market cap of $164.85 billion, a PE ratio of 43.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 156.21%. The business had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 128.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total value of $662,811.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMGN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Amgen from $271.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.05.

Amgen 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.