Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Decreases Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,894 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 12,283 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $10,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the 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 directly owns 62,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.7 %

AMGN stock traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $303.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,260,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,124,757. 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 company has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $276.27 and a 200 day moving average of $300.59. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.