Ancora Advisors LLC Acquires 1,189 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $9,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Amgen by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Amgen by 2.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amgen by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Amgen by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (down from $319.00) on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.22.

Amgen Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $281.22 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a 52-week low of $253.30 and a 52-week high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $151.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $299.66 and its 200-day moving average is $291.49. 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 (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The medical research company reported $4.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $8.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value 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 $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.