Gouws Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Gouws Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,900 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,763 shares during the period. Amgen makes up 2.5% of Gouws Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Gouws Capital LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $3,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unionview LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% in the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,889,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amgen by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connable Office Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 6,972 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.95.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $4.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $316.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,628,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,544,250. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.06 billion, a PE ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $283.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.78.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.