Centerpoint Advisory Group Buys New Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Centerpoint Advisory Group purchased a new position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,153 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMGN. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 16.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $38,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Amgen by 8.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 197,457 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $63,402,000 after buying an additional 15,564 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Amgen by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $173,639,000 after buying an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amgen by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 800.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 900 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Amgen stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $294.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,806,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,145,679. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The firm's fifty day moving average is $274.73 and its 200-day moving average is $300.81. The company has a market cap of $158.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company'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 represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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.