Sterling Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,164 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 10,554 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $7,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Amgen Trading Up 0.5 %

Amgen stock traded up $1.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $295.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,592,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,781,970. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $158.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $304.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.91.

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

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AMGN shares. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $315.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.91.

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.