Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Decreases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,197 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $4,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.04.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % 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, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 0.4 %

Amgen stock opened at $306.95 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $164.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $301.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.16.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

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.