Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Heritage Wealth Advisors

Key Points

• Heritage Wealth Advisors reduced its ownership in Amgen Inc. by 36.8%, now holding 1,973 shares valued at $615,000, following a sale of 1,150 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Several hedge funds are actively modifying their stakes in Amgen, with notable increases from firms like First Pacific Financial and Global Wealth Strategies & Associates, which grew their positions by over 300% and 1,388%, respectively.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Amgen, with the consensus rating being "Hold" and an average target price of $307.27, despite some recent downgrades and mixed ratings from various research firms.

Heritage Wealth Advisors reduced its holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN - Free Report) by 36.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,973 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,150 shares during the quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors' holdings in Amgen were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,716 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,331,000. DLK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 20,491 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $6,384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 914,380 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $238,316,000 after acquiring an additional 19,250 shares during the period. Finally, Nutshell Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,763,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $434,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of AMGN stock traded up $1.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $296.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,410,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,073. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $339.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.70, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $292.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.49.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.05 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.11% and a net margin of 17.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.96 earnings per share. Equities 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, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Amgen's dividend payout ratio is presently 86.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMGN shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Amgen from $324.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $328.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.27.

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.