Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Purchases 1,159 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $7,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV raised its position in Amgen by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV now owns 12,159 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Argentarii LLC bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $357,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $1,428,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 3,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Up 2.2 %

AMGN opened at $324.86 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 capitalization of $174.52 billion, a PE ratio of 43.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $286.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.69. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AMGN. Leerink Partners cut their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.95.

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.