Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Reduces Stock Position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC cut its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,136 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Amgen in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Amgen during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David M. Reese sold 8,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.22, for a total transaction of $2,554,239.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 62,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,222,743.34. The trade was a 12.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Murdo Gordon sold 8,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.79, for a total value of $2,585,603.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,025,590.94. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.7 %

AMGN opened at $303.01 on Monday. Amgen Inc. has a 12 month low of $253.30 and a 12 month high of $346.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $276.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.31. The company has a market cap of $162.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.6 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AMGN shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Amgen 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.