Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Purchased by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,436 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,895 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $16,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. PrairieView Partners LLC increased its position in Amgen by 118.3% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Amgen from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $326.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In other Amgen news, 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 transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $3.66 during trading on Thursday, reaching $297.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,318,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,120,625. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $275.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The company has a market capitalization of $160.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

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.