Norway Savings Bank Boosts Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Norway Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 38.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,230 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 615 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Amgen were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth $28,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Amgen by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Amgen in the first quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AMGN stock traded down $1.58 on Friday, reaching $260.72. 6,161,175 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,463,185. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $211.71 and a 52 week high of $296.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.71.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The medical research company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.56. Amgen had a return on equity of 196.60% and a net margin of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.65 EPS. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 18.35 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th were given a dividend of $2.13 per share. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on Amgen from $214.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. HSBC initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Amgen from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other Amgen news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 9,558 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.43, for a total transaction of $2,508,305.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,627,748.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Company Profile

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.