Secured Retirement Advisors LLC Increases Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Secured Retirement Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,192 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $1,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Amgen by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $11,153,000 after buying an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the third 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 raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 6.0% in 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. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 3.2% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $294.27. 2,806,841 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,145,679. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $274.73 and a 200 day moving average of $300.81.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMGN. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $314.09.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,405 shares of company stock worth $10,410,596 in the last three months. 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.