Aquatic Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 184.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,800 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Amgen were worth $12,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC raised its position in Amgen by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,205,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management raised its position in Amgen by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,364 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. This represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.57.

Amgen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $6.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $284.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,230,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,121,477. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The firm has a market cap of $152.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.59. The business's 50 day moving average price is $300.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.08. 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 (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, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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.