Blue Chip Partners LLC Sells 209 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Blue Chip Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $2,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 120,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,825,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Amgen by 8.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 197,457 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,402,000 after buying an additional 15,564 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Amgen by 1.1% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 538,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $173,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,751 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the third quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 14.4% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 29,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,658 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amgen Stock Down 2.0 %

AMGN stock opened at $291.16 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.42. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $156.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. On average, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,405 shares of company stock valued at $10,410,596 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Amgen from $381.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.09.

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.