MML Investors Services LLC Cuts Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

MML Investors Services LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 186,366 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,047 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $48,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position in Amgen by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $279.84. 2,259,859 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,789,386. 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 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $150.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $301.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.34.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Amgen from $328.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.