Sapient Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,864 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $26,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 11.8 %

NASDAQ:AMGN traded up $32.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $311.29. The stock had a trading volume of 9,644,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,279,398. Amgen Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.71 and a 1-year high of $329.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.14. The company has a market cap of $166.97 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.50.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 145.62%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Amgen’s payout ratio is 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Amgen from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, SVB Leerink cut shares of Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $324.00 to $318.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.05.

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.