Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,778 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth $29,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amgen by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total value of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This trade represents a 12.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. The trade was a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amgen Stock Performance

Shares of AMGN stock opened at $305.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $279.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.24. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62.

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 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMGN. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Partners dropped their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

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.