Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Sells 55 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. cut its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,320 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ AMGN opened at $305.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $279.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.24. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $164.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMGN. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price target on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.