Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Key Points

• Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. reduced its stake in Amgen Inc. by 29.6%, selling 2,131 shares and holding 5,078 shares now valued at approximately $1,582,000.
• Multiple large investors, including KPP Advisory Services LLC and DLK Investment Management LLC, have increased their stakes in Amgen, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Amgen recently reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $2.38 per share with a yield of 3.3%.

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. reduced its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,078 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,131 shares during the quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.'s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its position in Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 5,154 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.5% in the first quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.5% in the first quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Amgen by 1.7% in the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In related news, SVP Rachna Khosla sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.68, for a total transaction of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,364,368.16. This trade represents a 15.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AMGN shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded Amgen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on Amgen from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Amgen from $326.00 to $317.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Amgen from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.76.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN traded up $6.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $296.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,125,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,871,401. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $339.17. The stock has a market cap of $159.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.24.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The medical research company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.28 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.86 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 174.71% and a net margin of 18.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.97 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

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.