Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Grows Stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMGN. Lansing Street Advisors lifted its stake in Amgen by 1.3% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Unionview LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 3.8% during the third quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 876 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.4% during the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 0.6% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Amgen by 4.6% during the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Amgen from $349.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Amgen in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 25,045 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.12, for a total value of $7,341,190.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,987 shares in the company, valued at $8,496,669.44. This trade represents a 46.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total transaction of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,240,533.68. This trade represents a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock valued at $20,644,335. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 0.7 %

AMGN stock opened at $308.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.80, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Amgen Inc. has a one year low of $253.30 and a one year high of $346.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $280.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.16.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $2.38 dividend. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amgen’s payout ratio is presently 126.09%.

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.