Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 6.9% in the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Amgen by 3.8% in the second quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,012 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Reuter James Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Amgen by 48.0% in the second quarter. Reuter James Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,363 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amgen in the second quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, FCA Corp TX boosted its holdings in Amgen by 10.4% in the first quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 17,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.44% of the company’s stock.

Amgen Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $269.32 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71. The firm has a market cap of $144.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.58. Amgen Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.71 and a fifty-two week high of $291.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $268.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.53.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The medical research company reported $4.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.31. Amgen had a return on equity of 165.37% and a net margin of 28.20%. The company had revenue of $6.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.70 earnings per share. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 18.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a $2.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $8.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. Amgen’s payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Amgen from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Leerink Partnrs raised Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Amgen from $272.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Amgen from $253.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amgen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amgen

In related news, major shareholder Amgen Inc bought 1,764,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Amgen news, major shareholder Amgen Inc acquired 1,764,705 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,267,101. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $2,728,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,659,959.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. It focuses on inflammation, oncology/hematology, bone health, cardiovascular disease, nephrology, and neuroscience areas. The company's products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Neulasta that reduces the chance of infection due a low white blood cell count in patients cancer; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; Xgeva for skeletal-related events prevention; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; and Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization.