Northcape Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 70.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,594 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,246 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Talbot Financial LLC grew its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during 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 period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Amgen by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Amgen by 3.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $19,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Trading Up 1.7 %

AMGN stock traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $303.01. 3,260,757 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,124,757. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.56. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $275.62 and a two-hundred 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, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial cut 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596. Corporate 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.