Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 311,604 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 203.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 464,512 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 311,604 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.09% of Amgen worth $121,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in Amgen by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Remove Ads

Amgen Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $4.57 on Friday, reaching $285.98. The company had a trading volume of 3,466,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,779,713. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $304.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.11. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $315.22.

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.