Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Stake Trimmed by Wintrust Investments LLC

Wintrust Investments LLC cut its position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 23.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,212 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 12,311 shares during the quarter. Amgen accounts for 0.9% of Wintrust Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $8,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMGN. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 1.3% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 39.2% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amgen in the first quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amgen by 2.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,970,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. 74.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMGN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Amgen from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Amgen from $272.00 to $268.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Amgen in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a report on Friday, October 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Amgen Inc bought 1,764,705 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at $601,267,101. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Amgen Inc acquired 1,764,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $29,999,985.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 35,368,653 shares in the company, valued at $601,267,101. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan P. Graham sold 10,000 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were 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 directly 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 owned by company insiders.

Amgen Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Amgen stock opened at $272.00 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.75. The company has a market cap of $145.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.71. Amgen Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.71 and a 1 year high of $291.60.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The medical research company reported $4.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.65 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $6.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. Amgen had a net margin of 28.20% and a return on equity of 165.37%. Amgen’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amgen Inc. will post 18.65 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 17th will be given a $2.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $8.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.55%.

Amgen Company Profile

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.