Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 3,754 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,417 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 3,754 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $14,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BIP Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,200,000. BNP Paribas increased its position in Amgen by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 18,889 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,914,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares during the period. Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $347,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in Amgen by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 price objective on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.23.

Insider Activity

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,752 shares of company stock valued at $20,160,532. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN traded down $3.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $272.05. 3,617,904 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,764,484. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $297.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $146.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. The business had revenue of $8.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is 86.86%.

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.