New Republic Capital LLC Trims Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

New Republic Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. New Republic Capital LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Talbot Financial LLC raised its stake in Amgen by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 42,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Amgen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 9.0% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 6.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,659,000 after acquiring an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Amgen by 3.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 60,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $294.79 on Tuesday. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $158.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $272.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.