Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,542,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,913,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMGN. Talbot Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 5.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Amgen by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,592,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $513,033,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 35,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,659,000 after purchasing an additional 35,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total transaction of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,496,669.44. The trade was a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $170.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.78. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 176.32%. Research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.95.

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.