Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Sells 35 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 994 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,317,018 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,446,236,000 after purchasing an additional 345,537 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,205,604 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,441,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672,975 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,122,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,893,771,000 after purchasing an additional 103,851 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,143,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,657,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Amgen by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,442,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,431,432,000 after purchasing an additional 264,396 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Up 0.5 %

AMGN opened at $318.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.91. Amgen Inc. has a 52 week low of $253.30 and a 52 week high of $346.85. The company has a market capitalization of $171.18 billion, a PE ratio of 42.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. 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 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%. Analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is 126.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 62,147 shares in the company, valued at $18,222,743.34. This represents a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMGN. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

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.