Ieq Capital LLC Reduces Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ieq Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,830 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 17,512 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $9,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $513,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $303.01. 3,260,757 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,124,757. The company has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $275.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.75.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 3.14%. This is an increase from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Transactions at Amgen

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Company 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.