WCM Investment Management LLC Purchases 13,263 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 182.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,544 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 13,263 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $5,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Amgen by 3,955.0% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 174,040 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 169,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $294.79. 2,375,450 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,280,951. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The firm has a market cap of $158.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $272.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.77. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Amgen's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 119.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Amgen in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $314.09.

About Amgen

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.