ABC Arbitrage SA Purchases New Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,793 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,510,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 118.3% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This trade represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMGN traded up $1.47 on Wednesday, hitting $294.27. 2,806,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,145,679. The business's fifty day moving average is $274.73 and its 200 day moving average is $300.81. 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 $158.18 billion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is an increase from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.09.

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.