Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 372.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 23,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,365 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $6,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the third quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Johnson Rice set a $294.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Insider Activity at Amgen

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. This represents a 16.56 % 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 valued at $20,644,335 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $316.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $297.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.02. The stock has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $253.30 and a fifty-two week high of $346.85. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share 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 research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $2.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.09%.

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.