Samalin Investment Counsel LLC Sells 1,015 Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,169 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,015 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Amgen by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 1,474 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 1,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $46,998,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth $353,000. Institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMGN. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Amgen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Amgen from $275.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total transaction of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,186 shares in the company, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,228.70. This represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amgen Price Performance

Amgen stock opened at $316.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $297.24 and its 200 day moving average is $298.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 126.09%.

Amgen Company Profile

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.