Fayez Sarofim & Co Raises Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,817 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 8,215 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co's holdings in Amgen were worth $8,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 66.2% during 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 buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.57.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AMGN traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $279.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,259,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,789,386. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $150.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.34. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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.