Hamel Associates Inc. Cuts Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Hamel Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,746 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the quarter. Amgen comprises about 1.4% of Hamel Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 0.7 %

AMGN stock opened at $308.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $280.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.16. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $165.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. 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 payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 valued at $20,644,335 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.